Rise and Meet the Day
by fandomlver
Summary: Casey finds himself in a dangerous situation, and getting out of it may be only the first step... (Implied child abuse, nothing graphic.)
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I own none of this. Thanks to my amazing beta; any remaining errors are completely my fault.

Rise and Meet the Day

Casey drowsed for a long time. The only thing he was aware of was the pain in his head, and the dim light every time he tried to open his eyes.

Eventually he came more awake, reaching hesitantly for his temple, where the pain was centred. He hissed as he touched a scar, only partially healed.

Partially...

He forced himself upright, looking around. This wasn't a hospital, as he'd half thought; the walls were grey concrete and there were no windows. It was reasonably comfortably furnished; it looked rather like a hotel room, with a small table, a bookshelf and a radio as well as the bed he was lying on. Clothes were stacked neatly on shelves; there were no windows, and the lights were recessed into the ceiling.

And there was a girl, sitting on the floor in the corner and staring at him.

Casey swung his legs off the bed, watching her. "Who are you?" She bit her fist, eyes wide, and he climbed off the bed, swaying for a moment before catching his balance. "Who are you? Where are we?"

"In the bunker," she said around her fist. He took a step towards her and she scrambled to her feet, cramming herself into the corner. "You can't...are you real?"

"What?"

"You can't be real. There's only the bunker. You can't be..." She pressed her hands over her mouth again.

Already out of patience, Casey turned away to study the room. One wall had two doors; one turned out to be a bathroom, and the other was a well stocked kitchenette - a kitchenette, he noticed, with no actual machinery beyond a fridge set into the wall. No doors, no windows, no way in or out.

He went back to the main room. The girl was still crammed into the corner, watching him. "How'd I get in here?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I was sleeping. You were just here. You were bleeding, I cleaned it up..." She brushed her fingers over her temple, and Casey echoed her without thinking, wincing at the sharp pain.

"Ok." He slid down to a crouch, dropping his head into his hands. "Where are we? No, wait, the bunker, right?"

"The bunker," she agreed.

Casey glanced up at her, studying her carefully. She looked a few years younger than him, pale and slim – almost too thin – straight dark hair falling the length of her back and green eyes. "What's your name?"

"My..."

"I'm Casey."

"Oh." She frowned for a moment before saying hesitantly, "Kayla."

She said it as though she wasn't sure, and he frowned. "Kayla?"

"Yes," she said defensively.

"Cool name," he said, easing back to his feet. "How long have you been here, Kayla?"

"I've always been here. There isn't anywhere else. There's only the bunker."

"Right, yeah, I forgot."

"Are you really real?" she whispered.

Casey nodded, holding out a hand. He waited patiently while she picked her way out of the corner, hesitantly taking his hand. "See?" he murmured. "I'm real."

She reached out, tracing the shape of his face. Casey held still, letting her do it; her touch lightened over the cut on his temple. "Is that sore?" she murmured.

"I've had worse."

The lights darkened suddenly and she looked up. "Sit," she said, catching at his shoulder.

"What?"

"Sit. Quick. Eyes closed." She sank down, trying to pull him with her. Casey pulled free, staring around.

The door to the kitchenette clicked and he threw himself at it, yanking on the handle. It didn't budge and he cursed, thumping futilely at it.

When he turned Kayla was sitting curled in on herself, hands pressed over her ears. Casey scowled, dropping to sit next to her. "What's going on?"

"Lights go down, shut your eyes," she breathed. "Lights go down, shut your eyes. Lights go down, shut your eyes."

She kept it up until the lights finally went back up. The kitchen door had clicked a couple of minutes earlier, but Casey didn't bother getting up; Kayla was still curled into a ball, rocking back and forth.

When the lights went up she uncurled carefully, looking around. "There," she said, satisfied. Climbing to her feet, she crossed to the kitchen and returned with a tray.

Casey eyed the two bowls of soup, frowning. "Where'd that come from?"

Kayla shrugged. "Lights go down, sometimes things come."

"But where from?" Casey insisted. "If there's nothing else out there, where's it come from?"

"It just comes." Kayla turned away, busying herself with the tray. Casey gave up, waiting until she'd had some of hers to risk his. Nothing happened, and he finished it off.

Time passed very, very slowly. Casey spent some time studying the supplies in the kitchenette; there was enough food, even with both of them, to keep them going for quite a while. An extra toothbrush turned up after what he guessed was a day or so. Clothes appeared sporadically, and the small amount of rubbish they generated vanished. Fresh air came from somewhere up in the roof, and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom provided water.

Kayla entertained herself with books and music; the radio never picked up any signal, but there was a collection of CDs. It was mostly classical music, a little jazz; nothing Casey recognised, nothing up to date. The books were mostly puzzles; there was a first aid manual, and a couple of cookbooks – he didn't know why, since there was no way to cook anything – but no history, no atlases, nothing to suggest the world outside the bunker.

Whenever the lights dimmed Kayla stopped what she was doing and lay down; she made Casey take the bed until his head healed and the headaches stopped, then he started sleeping on the floor. The lights never fully went down and it took him a long time to adapt to sleeping.

He stayed in the kitchenette for a while, determined not to be locked out again. Kayla mostly ignored him, making sure he ate whenever she did and apart from that leaving him alone. Casey spent a lot of time staring at the walls, slept as much as he could – he was adapting to the lights, and that worried him – and stayed put.

Kayla came in eventually, fiddled with the taps, and then turned to him. "There's no water."

"What?"

"There's no water. None of the taps are working."

Casey cursed. He'd been ready for the lights going off, for the food running down, he'd already been planning how to ration out the food, but he couldn't deal with the water going off. There was no water stored anywhere in the bunker; they were completely dependent on the taps.

He gave up, and followed her back into the living room, and tried not to curse when he heard the lock click and the lights went down.

* * *

><p>Casey was bored and frustrated. He couldn't track time, couldn't tell how long he'd been there. Every so often he woke aware that he'd been drugged, which only messed with his sense of time even further. Kayla usually slept longer than him on those occasions, leaving him prowling helplessly around the room. She couldn't tell him if that had happened before he got there, since she had nothing to measure it against. He tried to get around the drugs by not eating at the same time as she did, but it was coming through the water or in the air for all he knew; he still woke up groggy and tired at random intervals.<p>

Kayla still refused to believe there was anything outside. She couldn't explain where he'd come from, but she was steadfast in her refusal. She claimed not to remember anything outside of the bunker, and Casey thought she was telling the truth; he caught her looking at him oddly when he mentioned certain things, she didn't recognise anything from popular culture, and he didn't think she was skilled enough to keep up a lie like that.

"But you can talk," he pointed out one day. "And you can read. You must have learned those things somewhere."

She considered, turning a page in her book. "I don't remember."

"Kayla."

"I believe you, but I don't remember. There's only the bunker."

"You don't talk like a kid, either."

She looked up, meeting his eyes. "I don't remember."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh. "There's only the bunker."

"Yes."

He spent some time thinking. He couldn't trace a pattern in the visits, or in the lights falling and rising, but he took to sitting on the floor near the kitchen door. The puzzles were boring for him, but he did his best to make it look like he was trying, leaning against the wall and waiting.

When the lights dipped one day he put the book down, carefully wedging one corner of the cover into the door frame. Kayla was on the other side of the room, curled in on herself as usual.

The door clicked. Casey counted out sixty heartbeats before rising slowly to his feet, wrapping his hand carefully around the door knob. A glance back to make sure Kayla wasn't watching, and he yanked it open.

He was on his back before he could focus, nose throbbing where the punch had struck it. He squinted through the pain and the involuntary tears, but all he could make out was a dark figure. The figure stepped towards him, studying him for a moment before kicking him in the head.

Casey woke curled on his side. He couldn't see anything, even when he blinked and strained; eventually he decided to assume the lights were off, though he'd never seen them off, not since he got here.

His hands were tied behind his back, tightly enough that his fingers were tingling with blood loss. His ankles were tied, too, making it awkward to move. With some effort, he got himself sitting up and shuffled along the floor until he hit a wall.

Eventually he figured out he was in the bathroom. The door wouldn't budge, and the taps weren't working. He couldn't reach high enough to get at the bathroom cabinet, not that he could think of anything useful in there.

He sat back down on the floor, finding a corner to tuck himself into. His head was pounding and he was thirsty, but the darkness and silence were worse. He couldn't keep his mind from wondering, and it always went right back to one thing.

_Why isn't Brax here yet?_

* * *

><p>When the lights came on he groaned, curling over to bury his face in the floor. He'd lost feeling in his hands and feet and the room seemed to be freezing cold. The door clicked and after a couple of minutes it edged open.<p>

"Casey?" Kayla said uncertainly.

He shifted so she could see his hands and she hesitated before coming to kneel behind him, tracing the ropes uncertainly before starting to work on the knot.

She had to tug and pull at the rope, trying to loosen the knot, and every move made it dig and shred at his wrists, but the strands finally parted and she unwound the rope. Casey hissed in pain as blood started flowing again, and she went down to his ankles, where at least his trousers had protected his skin a little.

By the time she got it untied Casey was able to move his hands around in front of him. Kayla vanished briefly and came back with a cup of water; Casey took it gratefully, aware enough to sip instead of gulping. Kayla wet a cloth and rubbed gently at the blood caked under his nose.

"Can you move?" she asked quietly, once he'd finished the glass.

"Yeah. I'm just stiff. What was that?"

"Was it dark?"

"Yeah." He levered himself up on the sink, carefully not looking at himself in the mirror. Fumbling at the cabinet, he found the single package of painkillers and downed both pills. They were never given any more than two at a time.

"Dark is for punishments."

"What?" He turned back, studying her.

"When we're bad, the light goes off," she told him. "That's how we know we've been bad. Are you bleeding?"

"No." He touched the cut on his forehead, checking his fingers briefly. "No."

The room had changed. He hung in the doorframe for a moment, staring at it; a double bed now sat against one wall, and the wardrobe was bigger. Two chairs and a larger table stood in one corner. It made everything more crowded, taking away what little floor space they'd had.

"Who did this?" he asked, wobbling in to sit gingerly on one end of the bed.

"I was sleeping," Kayla told him. "Tilt your head." He obeyed, letting her examine the cut.

"Will I live?" he asked when she stepped away. The painkillers were starting to cut down on the pain in his head, and he could move without wanting to be sick.

Kayla gave him a look; he was starting to learn that that particular look meant 'I don't know what you mean.' "Show me your wrists," she said instead, studying the cuts left behind by the rope.

"It's nothing," Casey told her, tugging until she let go. "I don't understand any of this."

"Any of what?"

"I've been kidnapped before, but he wanted something from me. I don't get what this guy wants."

"What guy?" She took his wrist again and he let her rub antiseptic cream into the worst spots.

"The guy who's keeping us here."

"There's only the bunker," she reminded him gently, starting on the other wrist.

Casey's temper flared and he pushed her away. Off balance, she crashed to the floor, gasping. "There's a whole world out there," he hissed, leaning over her. "I'm not going to be stuck here forever."

"There's only the bunker," she whispered, holding one wrist awkwardly.

Casey stepped over her and let himself into the kitchen. He knew himself too well, and he didn't want to be around her right now, not until he'd calmed down a little.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Thanks so much for all the comments and follows, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

This fic is still in the process of being beta'd; everything you read has been beta'd, but there may occasionally be gaps in posting while my fabulous beta and I work on the new chapters. Be patient; everything is written.

Oh, and because I think I forgot to say it last time; this is set just shortly after Tamara left, just after Casey found out about the Barretts. I own nothing except this particular idea. Enjoy this chapter!

Rise and Meet the Day

When he was feeling more like himself he went back to the door. Kayla was sitting at the table, studying something laid out on its' surface.

"What are you doing?" he asked without moving.

Kayla glanced up at him. "I don't know what these are."

He pushed off the doorway, coming to stand beside her. A deck of playing cards was spread out on the table top, neatly arranged by number.

"We had playing cards and I didn't know?"

She shook her head. "They're new, look." He followed her gesture to a shelf full of board games. They definitely hadn't been here before.

"Right." He pulled out the second chair, settling into it. Waving at her wrist, he added awkwardly, "I hurt you?"

"No." She flexed it back and forth to show him. "It's fine, see?"

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged, tapping idly at one of the cards. "Doesn't matter. What _are_ these?"

"These are playing cards." Casey swept them together, shuffling them neatly. "People use them to play games. We'll start off easy."

They played snap for a while, until Kayla switched hands and he realised her wrist was hurting her. They changed to Go Fish after that, playing until the lights went down. When they came back up a few minutes later Kayla retrieved two bowls of stew from the kitchen and they ate it.

It was drugged, Casey realised a little too late. Kayla was already curling up on the bed; the drugs, and the lingering head pain, left Casey dizzy and disoriented and eventually he gave up, sinking onto the bed behind her.

When he woke up, some amount of time later, they were curled together in the middle of the bed.

He woke up feeling cold and shivery. Scowling, he checked the kitchen and swallowed the two painkillers there. His wrists were red and swollen, and he winced as he touched them.

Kayla was sitting up when he came back in. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing. Just a bit sore. It's nothing. How's yours?"

She glanced down at her wrist. "Nothing."

They played cards, for a little while. Casey's wrists were really starting to bother him, and he lay down after a while. The lights stayed up and he couldn't sleep, couldn't even doze. Kayla brought him a drink and left him alone, reading quietly on the other side of the room.

Eventually the lights went down. Kayla curled up on the other side of the bed, falling asleep easily. Even without the lights, though, Casey couldn't sleep past the growing pain in his wrists.

The lights eventually came back up and Kayla stirred, rolling off the bed and heading for the kitchen. Casey was starting to feel foggy, time stretching and snapping together oddly.

Kayla returned with a glass of water, coaxing it into him. "You feel hot," she murmured, touching his arm lightly.

"Yeah," he murmured. "Get...cloth, and water."

She came back with them and he took the cloth, pressing it against his forehead. "Never been sick?" he asked wearily.

"No." She took the cloth, wetting it again and pressing it back into place. "What's sick?"

"Seriously?" He laughed, coughing slightly. "You really don't know about being sick?"

"I know about hurt. Not about sick."

"I can't really handle the biology lesson right now, Kayla."

She nodded, reaching for his glass and refilling it. "Drink some more."

"Yeah." He managed the glass and then lay down again, only vaguely aware that she kept wiping his forehead for a long time.

The next time he surfaced she'd moved on to wiping down his arms. He sighed, rolling towards her; the movement triggered a bout of nausea and he froze, fighting hard to get it under control.

Kayla didn't speak or move until he looked up at her. "Better?" she asked softly.

"Did the painkillers come back yet?" he murmured.

"No. How can I help?"

He lifted his wrists with some difficulty. They were heavily swollen now, and his fingers barely moved. "Wash them," he told her.

"That'll hurt you."

"Yeah. Wash."

It did hurt. It hurt a lot. Casey kept himself from making any noise, because every time he did Kayla flinched, and they got through it somehow. When she went to get rid of the water he buried his face in the pillow, letting himself groan.

Time was hazing again. Sometimes when he surfaced Kayla was taking care of him; sometimes the lights were down and she was curled against him. Whenever he woke, she did too, and she made him drink and tried to get him to eat. Nausea was a constant companion now, though, and even when he swallowed the food he couldn't keep it down.

He thought he was hallucinating, at first. The lights were down, Kayla was sleeping, and he could hear voices.

He hadn't heard voices in a long time. Only Kayla. These were male voices, rising and falling in what he eventually recognised as frustration.

Then he recognised one of the voices, and fell off the bed.

"Brax...Brax? Brax!"

"Casey?" Kayla stumbled around the bed to join him. "What is it?"

"It's Brax, I can hear Brax. Brax!"

"Casey..."

He pushed past her, following the sounds into the kitchen and clutching at the shelves to stay upright. "Brax! Brax, I'm here, Brax! Heath!"

The voices faded and he almost cried. "Brax, no, I'm here! Brax, please!"

"There's only the bunker," Kayla said quietly from behind him. Casey shook his head irritably, and she wrapped a blanket around him. "Casey..."

The voices returned and Casey pushed her aside, banging on the shelves. "BRAX!"

"Casey!" Brax yelled from outside, and this time Casey really did cry, sinking to his knees, unable to stay upright anymore. He couldn't see Kayla, didn't know where she was, but it didn't matter; Brax was talking, telling him what they were doing, promising that rescue was only a few moments away.

The wall shuddered. Casey stared blankly at it for a moment before backing away, still on his knees, clutching awkwardly at the blanket. The wall shook again, and again, and then part of it swung away to reveal a gap.

It must have jammed; Brax had to force his way through, but then he was there, really there, on his knees beside Casey. "Casey, Case, you all right? Look at me, mate, what's wrong?" He caught Casey's face in both hands, examining him closely.

"I'm all right."

"You're burning up, mate."

"Yeah." He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Brax's chest. Brax's hand curled protectively around the back of his neck. "You found me," he whispered. "You really found me."

"Got Phoebe to thank," Heath said. Casey reached out blindly; Heath caught his hand and Casey tugged, pulling him up against them. For just a moment he let himself relax, absolutely sure that everything would be fine now. His brothers were here.

"Geez, Casey," Kyle said from somewhere near the door. "I was crazy, but this, this is a special brand of crazy. How do you do it?"

Casey laughed, easing back onto his heels and wiping one hand over his face. The other hand stayed tangled in Brax's sleeve. "Just lucky, I guess. How long have I been here?"

"Five weeks, nearly six." Kyle studied the shelves. "Bit more comfortable, this time."

"Case?" Heath said suddenly. "Want to introduce us to your roommate?"

Brax tensed, starting to rise to his feet, and Casey caught at him quickly. "Brax, no, it's not what you're thinking, she was stuck here same as me. She's been trying to help me."

"We have police coming," Kyle said, turning towards the door.

Casey winced. "Heath, can you hold them off for a minute? Let me try to explain to her?"

"Yeah, you got it," Heath agreed, squeezing past Kyle and back out through the gap.

"Case, you're burning up," Brax said again.

"Yeah, I got infected." He held up one wrist, dodging when Brax tried to catch it. "Let me – I have to talk to her, Brax."

"You can't stand, mate."

"Yeah, I can."

He wobbled slightly, but he got to his feet. Crossing to the bed seemed to take forever, and he sank onto it gratefully. Kayla was sitting on the floor, pressed against the base of it, eyes locked on the kitchen door.

"Kayla. _Kayla_." She didn't react, and with a groan he slid off the bed to sit next to her, blocking her line of sight to the door. "Kayla, look at me."

Her eyes were wide and panicked when she looked at him. "There's only the bunker," she whispered.

"No. I told you. There's a whole world out there, and my brothers are here to take us out of here. Come with us, please."

"There's only the bunker!" she insisted, high pitched in panic.

"No, Kayla. You know that's not true. Come with us, ok? Let me help you."

"Kayla?"

Kyle had somehow crept across the room and was almost in touching range. Brax was hovering in the door, clearly desperate to come in; Casey caught his eye and gestured him to wait.

"Kayla? I'm Kyle. Dunno if Casey mentioned me, he doesn't like me much."

"You're the bad one," she whispered.

Kyle smiled faintly. "The bad Braxton. Kind of an oxymoron, but yeah. That's me. Listen, you know Casey is sick, right?" Kayla's eyes flickered to Casey and back to Kyle. "He really needs to come with us and see a doctor, but he won't leave you here. Can you come with us? For Casey's sake?"

"There's nothing out there," she said, only barely audible. "There's only the bunker."

"Come and show us that," Casey suggested. "If there's nothing there we can just come back here." He coughed suddenly, harshly, bending forward. Kyle's hand was warm on his shoulder, bizarrely comforting.

When he caught his breath again Kayla was holding his arm, and he turned his head to look at her, letting Kyle hold him up. "I have to go," he said quietly. "Please."

Kayla nodded, slowly, and he slumped. Kyle caught him, holding him steady, warning Brax back out loud. Casey drew a deep breath, pushing himself upright again.

"We're out of time," Brax said from the door.

"Kayla," Casey said, vaguely aware that Kyle was helping him to his feet. "See my brother Brax over there?"

"Yes," Kayla said quietly, standing.

Casey dipped his head to catch her eye. "I trust him more than anyone else in the world. I'm going to ask him to stay with you, and make sure no one touches you or hurts you, ok? And he'll do it, I promise. Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she said again.

"Casey," Brax protested.

"Heath and Kyle'll be with me. I need someone I trust with her. Please, Brax."

Brax wavered for a moment before snarling. "Kyle, anything happens to him..."

"Eating through a straw for weeks, I know," Kyle assured him. "Come on, then, little brother."

They met Heath at the door. Casey was vaguely aware of Kayla behind him, and Brax behind her; once they were through the doorway Heath stepped into his side, supporting him. Casey hazed out, coming back to himself sitting in the back of an ambulance while a policeman tried to get some details from him and Kyle tried to make him back off.

"I never saw anyone," he said abruptly. Kyle jumped, turning back to look at him. "I woke up there, and whenever they were coming in they locked the doors."

"Look, he's sick," Heath said, looming up from behind the policeman. "Do you really need his statement right now? It can't be pivotal, we found them in the cellar."

"The sooner we get these details, while they're fresh..."

Casey leaned to the side and threw up. He managed to miss everyone, and there wasn't much to come up, but it was enough to make the policeman back off.

"Nice timing," Heath complimented him. "Checked on your girl. She had some trouble leaving the house, but Brax is sticking with her, and now she's in the 'van she's doing better."

Casey looked past him. "It's night time."

"Yeah," Heath agreed. "Good to know you haven't lost your basic observational skills."

"No, that's..." he shook his head, swallowing against another surge of nausea. "Dark is for punishment."

"That's what she said," Heath agreed, studying him. "What's she mean?"

"Means when we did something bad, the lights went out."

"What, it just got dark?"

Casey glowered at him. "We were underground, Heath. No light. No air. No _sound._ He just turned off the lights and left us there. I thought we were gonna be stuck in the dark forever."

Kyle grimaced. "Can't have been much fun."

Casey held up a wrist. "Being tied up didn't help much, either."

"What'd you do?" Heath caught the wrist, examining it.

Casey pulled away; even his light touch felt almost unbearable on infected skin. "Tried to get a look at our host."

The EMT arrived, slipping neatly between Heath and Kyle. "Casey, I'm going to give you a shot, ok?" he said briskly.

"What's in it?" Casey asked.

"Antibiotics, to get a jump on that infection, and a mild sedative, to help you relax a little bit."

"No." Casey twisted away from the needle, catching at Kyle's arm to keep his balance. Kyle glanced at him in surprise but supported him until he steadied.

"Case, let him do it," Heath told him.

"No sedative," Casey said as strongly as he could. "The other stuff's fine, but no sedative."

"You need it, Casey," the EMT told him.

"No." He tugged on Kyle's arm again. "No."

"All right," Kyle agreed, turning to catch Heath's glare. "Just be grateful he's taking the antibiotics."

"Casey," Heath said, leaning in the door.

Casey shook his head firmly. "They put it in my food."

Kyle whistled softly. "Well, that's one way to turn you off, I guess."

Heath studied him for a long moment before turning to the EMT. "No sedative."

"The doctor'll almost certainly give you one once you get to the hospital."

"We'll deal with it then."

He shrugged, discarding the needle and preparing a new one. Kyle slipped out, making way for Heath, who settled next to Casey, shoulder to shoulder.

"Kyle, where're you going?" Casey asked, looking away as the EMT neatly injected him.

Kyle gestured vaguely over his shoulder. "Bring the car back."

"Come with us." He wavered, and Casey insisted, "Come with us."

Kyle glanced at Heath, who shrugged. "Birthday boy calls the shots."

"Birthday boy?" Casey repeated, doubling over with another coughing fit.

"Deep breaths," Heath told him, taking the handful of tissues the EMT offered him.

Casey managed to calm himself, rubbing his face. "Birthday – five weeks? Am I twenty?"

"Yesterday." Heath smirked. "Happy birthday. Kyle, get in, we need to get going."

The EMT made Casey lie down, and he drowsed, listening to Heath and Kyle talk quietly. The movement of the ambulance and the soft discussion lulled him deeper into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

He woke in a hospital room, hooked to various monitors. Brax was sleeping, propped up uncomfortably in a chair by the bed; Casey lay watching him for a while, still drowsy from whatever drugs he was on but feeling much better.

Brax's head dropped and he jerked awake, looking blearily around the room. It took him a moment to focus on Casey; as soon as he realised Casey was actually awake he stood, reaching for the call button.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Fuzzy," Casey told him after a little thought.

"That's the fever – apart from that?"

"Better." Casey lifted one wrist to examine it, but he couldn't hold it up for more than a few seconds; he had time to see it was neatly bandaged, but that was all. "How am I?"

"Fever's going down. Nate says you're doing well, you didn't seem to be too badly hurt apart from that. A knock to the head?"

Casey concentrated. "Yeah. That was...I dunno, a few days ago?"

"Sounds about right. What happened?"

"Kicked me inna head. Again."

Brax scowled. "Should have let Heath hit him harder."

"What happened? How'd you find me?" Nate came in, and Casey acknowledged him distractedly. "Heath said Phoebe?"

Brax glanced at Nate, who waved for him to go ahead while he checked the machines and Casey's chart. "Do you remember anything, Casey?"

"Uh." Casey frowned, thinking. "I was with her, wasn't I?"

"Yeah. You met her coming back from the gym; do you remember?"

"Sort of. We were walking near the beach, and a van pulled up."

"Yeah. Someone tried to snatch her and you shoved her out the way, down the dunes where he couldn't get her. You got thumped in the head and snatched instead; she got a look at the van and a glimpse of the driver."

"Is she ok?" Casey asked.

"Doing fine. Glad you're ok. She'd be here, but the docs want to restrict your visitors for a while; your immune system's gone a bit weird."

"I'm glad she's all right. I don't remember that happening."

"Heath gave the description to the Boys," Brax continued, glancing at Nate. "Took a while, but they tracked him down. I offered the info to the police on the condition we be allowed to go along."

"And they agreed?" Casey said in surprise.

"They didn't have much choice. If they refused, or tried to hold me, Heath was ready to bring Kyle and the Boys out to get you, and they knew if they let that happen there wouldn't be anything left to arrest. Emerson knows a losing game when he sees one. I had to keep Heath and Kyle under control, but we were allowed along, and you know the rest."

"Casey, the report says you refused sedatives in the ambulance," Nate said quietly.

"Yeah, um..." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "They kept slipping sedatives in the food. I don't know why, they didn't..." he caught the look on Brax's face and said quickly, "No one touched me, Brax."

"Apart from kicking you in the head and tying you up, you mean."

"No one touched me the way you're thinking they did. And I'm pretty sure that never happened to Kayla, either...shit, Kayla. How is she?"

Nate glanced at Brax, who nodded. Casey caught the look, frowning. "What's going on?"

"Medically she's doing well. She wasn't hurt, she wasn't sick like you. Her immune system's worse than yours, but we can deal with that. She's pretty badly malnourished, but we can deal with that, too, over time."

"And not medically?" He turned on Brax. "Who's with her if you're here?"

"Heath. Or Kyle; we're taking it in turns. Someone's with her."

"You're sure?"

"Definitely."

"OK." He turned back to Nate. "Not medically?"

"She's having some trouble adjusting; she isn't talking and she's not really listening to us."

"She doesn't think this is real," Casey said with a sigh.

"What?"

"There's only the bunker. She's been down there so long she doesn't remember anything else...who was it, Brax?"

"Some crazy old survivalist. What we can tell, his wife left him and he decided the kid wouldn't get the chance."

"So he stuffed her in a hole? Why?"

Brax shrugged helplessly. "Some people are crazy, Case."

"What did you find out?" Nate was staring fixedly at his clipboard, and Casey repeated "What do you know about her?"

"She's sixteen," Brax said, watching Nate. "And the last time she was seen before yesterday was five and a half years ago."

"Five and a half – Brax, that's wrong."

"No, mate. We're sure, it's been checked."

Casey plucked at his blanket. "She doesn't remember anything. Just the bunker. If she was ten – she has to remember a bit. She can't have lost all of it."

"Trauma, mate. You remember what happened to Tamara. The mind does funny things to survive." Brax dropped his hand over Casey's, stilling the frantic movements.

"Let me see her."

"You can't get up yet," Nate warned him.

"I'll go on my own if you don't let me go now."

"Case," Brax sighed.

"She helped me, and now she's stuck here where she doesn't know anything, and no one else gets it, Brax. No one can."

"We're doing our best, Case."

"This isn't..." He shook his head irritably. "It's not against you. It's not against anyone. You weren't there; you don't know. That's just how it is."

"Then tell us. We're listening."

Casey sat up, reaching for his IV. "Where is she?"

"Ey, Casey, wait a minute." Nate caught his hand. "Look, I'll make you a deal. That IV's got about fifteen minutes left to run. Talk to us until it's done, and then I'll take you to her room myself."

"Fifteen minutes?" Casey repeated.

"Well, give or take. Look, the police are waiting to talk to you anyway."

"They'll never be happy with just fifteen minutes."

"I'll make them. I promise. Deal?"

Casey sighed, shifting back against the pillows. "Yeah, all right, deal."

"Good man. Hang in for a second, I'll get them."

Brax half turned to watch him go; Casey's fingers brushed against his arm and he looked back in surprise.

"Don't go anywhere," Casey murmured without looking at him.

"Wild horses, mate. Here, swallow some of this while you're waiting."

Casey took the cup of water, sipping obediently. Nate reappeared with a policeman Casey didn't recognise; Brax didn't seem to either, judging by his lack of reaction.

"Mr Braxton –"

"Casey."

"Casey," he agreed. "I'm Sergeant Michaels, I'm going to take your statement today. This should be short and sweet, we got most of what we need from the house, we just need a few details from you. All right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Ok." He flipped open his notebook, studying it. "You told the officer at the scene that you never saw the man who was holding you?"

"Grabbed me from behind, knocked me out. By the time I woke up I was already in the bunker. He locked the doors whenever he was restocking."

"He never communicated at all? No speakers, no notes, nothing?"

Casey considered. "He used the lights."

"Used them how?'

"Lights go down, close your eyes." He winced at Brax's look. "Whenever the lights dimmed we were supposed to sit down and close our eyes. If they came back up after a few minutes, he was just restocking. Otherwise, we went to bed."

"He didn't turn them off?"

Casey shuddered, hand tightening around Brax's arm. "Dark is for punishment. He got fed up with me once, stuck me in the bathroom with the lights off."

"Stuck you?" Michaels repeated gently.

"Kicked me in the head, tied me up, locked the door. Kayla couldn't get in to untie me until he decided to let her."

"It was just dark?" Brax asked.

"Completely dark, and no sound. It was..." he shuddered again. "Cold, and –"

"Ok," Michaels said swiftly. "Let's go in order, shall we? Start from the first time you woke up."

Nate kept his word and stopped the questioning after fifteen minutes. He'd have done it anyway; Casey was pale and getting paler, and he was leaning into Brax for support. The things he was remembering were taking a toll.

"I'll have to come back," Michaels protested.

"Back's fine. Tomorrow. No, I'm his doctor and that's my medical decision. Tomorrow you can talk to him again."

"What about the other one, the girl?"

"As soon as she starts talking, I'll let you know."

Michaels considered him for a minute before nodding. "All right. Casey, thank you. You've helped us out a lot today."

"Mmm-hmm."

Brax watched him leave, turning back to Casey. "You all right?"

"Can I see Kayla now?"

"Mate, you need to rest..."

"You promised," Casey reminded him.

"You're exhausted."

"I'll just go when you're not looking, Brax."

Brax studied him for a minute before sighing, turning to Nate. "What do you think, doc?"

"I think trying to tell a Braxton what he can or can't do is an exercise in futility. Casey, I'm going to get a wheelchair. You will stay in the wheelchair, or I'll have you strapped down to your bed. Got it?"

"Got it," Casey agreed. Brax snorted softly, but he didn't comment, and Nate pretended not to hear.

Nate came back a minute later with the wheelchair, capped Casey's IV and, with Brax's help, got him into the wheelchair. Casey endured, lips pressed tightly together and face pale.

"Case," Brax said quietly.

"Let's go," Casey said without looking at him. Brax sighed, catching the handles and steering him out of the room.

Kyle glanced up when they came in; he was sitting sprawled in the visitor's chair, reading. He shifted upright as Brax pulled the wheelchair in, settling it at the side of the bed.

Casey ignored him, watching the quiet form in the bed. "Kayla?" She didn't answer, and he looked at Kyle. "How is she?"

"Same as always."

He gestured impatiently. "What's always?"

"Not talking, not fighting back. Same as always." Glancing at Brax, he added more quietly, "Should I leave?"

"We're not staying long. Casey? Shit, Case, what're you..." He lunged forward to steady Casey as he stood, shakily, reaching for the side of the bed. "Casey, I'll tie you down myself!"

"Relax, Brax, I'm not staying up." Casey eased onto the bed, nudging Kayla; she automatically made room and he settled himself beside her.

"Casey," Brax said warningly.

"It's all right," Casey said softly.

"It's not," Kayla said, so quietly the others could barely hear her. "Everything's wrong."

"Yeah. It is, isn't it."

"Are you really real?"

"Yeah. I'm real. See?" He leaned over, catching her hand and tangling their fingers together.

"Yeah. I'm, uh..." Kyle closed his book, standing and making vague gestures towards the door.

"Don't go far," Brax told him, sinking into his abandoned chair.

"Nah. Cup of coffee, maybe." He let himself out, closing the door quietly behind himself.

"We like Kyle now?" Casey asked. His eyes were closed, but he was clearly paying attention.

"You're the one wanted him in the ambulance."

"I was in shock. And I had a fever. Did I mention shock?"

Brax shrugged. "He worked pretty hard to help find you. Sat on some of his own contacts, helped us out. Backed me up a couple times when I couldn't risk having Heath along." He considered his hands for a moment. "I brought him to that house. Didn't know what he'd do. He and Heath took the guy down, no one had a chance of stopping them, but then he backed off and helped me wrestle Heath down. Told him you needed him walking around, not stuck in prison on a murder charge." He grinned. "I saw him get an extra kick in, though."

"I don't want any of you to kill for me. Even him."

Brax cleared his throat. "Case..."

"It's fine. It's over. Kayla, Kyle's been ok with you?"

"He talks at me," she murmured. "From his book I think."

"Huh. Wouldn't have thought he was a big reader. What about Heath?"

"He just sits. I don't think he likes me."

"He doesn't like anyone much. Don't worry about him." Casey tilted his head towards Brax. "What about Brax?"

Kayla shivered slightly, tugging at his hand until he wrapped an arm around her. "He didn't let anyone hurt me. He's very safe."

Casey glanced at Brax again; he was trying not to laugh, Brax could see it clearly, and he scowled automatically. "He's very safe," Casey agreed, voice even.

Kayla added something that Brax didn't hear, and Casey stiffened. "Say it again?"

"He loves you so much," she said, but Brax couldn't tell if she was repeating herself or continuing the thought.

"Yeah." Casey relaxed again, shifting to curl against her. "Brax, do the lights go down? Not off, just down."

"Nah, mate, but I can pull the blind on the window, that'll dim it down some."

"Cheers." He nudged Kayla again. "You should have told someone."

"Did tell someone. He said I was being stupid."

Brax hesitated, carefully closing the blind. "Who told you that, Kayla?"

"A man. In a white clothes."

"A nurse." Casey's voice was still even; Brax, with years of experience, could hear the anger underneath. "Brax, is Nate her doctor too?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'll go talk to him. Case, when I come back, you're going back to your own bed."

"Mmmm."

"I mean it, Casey."

"I heard you."

Brax sighed, stepping out and asking the nearest nurse to page Nate. He appeared after a minute and Brax leaned against the wall, quietly repeating Kayla's claims.

"I'll have it looked into," Nate promised. "She's talking, then?"

"To Casey, yeah." He glanced up distractedly as Kyle reappeared. "I didn't try – Kyle, you been here all day?"

"The nurse put me out a couple of times for checks, but apart from that, yeah."

"You know which nurse?"

"Different ones. Why?"

Brax shrugged. "Kayla says she asked a nurse to put the lights down, and he told her she was being stupid."

Kyle whistled softly. "Great bedside manner."

"Sort of our point, yeah."

"I'll take care of it," Nate promised.

"Right. Come on, Kyle, Sleeping Beauty needs to go back to his own room now."

Kyle followed him in, smiling involuntarily at the sight; the teens were both asleep, curled together on the bed. "Can I take a picture?"

"Kyle..."

"Oh, come on, like that's not the best blackmail material you've ever seen."

_"*Kyle*_."

Kyle muttered, backing away as Brax leaned over the bed, rousing Casey enough to get him back in the wheelchair. Kayla slept through, curling in on herself when Casey was gone.

"Keep the blinds drawn," Casey told him, stifling a yawn. "She'll wake up otherwise."

"Got it," Kyle promised. "Go on, baby brother, you look terrible. Although better than last time you were kidnapped."

Casey made a face at him. He was already mostly asleep when Brax turned the wheelchair to leave; he didn't really wake in his own room, just shifted from chair to bed and sank back asleep again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Casey woke sometime later in pitch darkness. Heart racing, he murmured "Brax?"

"Heath," Heath said from the corner. "You ok?"

"Put a light on."

Heath stood, making his way to the door and switching the light on. Casey relaxed a little, pulling himself up to sit in the bed.

"Ok?" Heath perched on the side of the bed, studying him.

"Yeah. Did I wake you? Sorry."

Heath shrugged. "Not a big deal. Those chairs aren't comfortable to sleep in, anyway."

"Where's Brax?" Casey asked, glancing around.

"Kyle took him home to throw him in the shower and make him get some proper sleep."

Casey looked up sharply. "Kyle took..."

"Ricky offered to sit with Kayla; Brax asked her if that was ok, introduced them, and Ricky's just going to sit there and call for help if anything happens. Brax really needed to go home, Case, he's been with you or her for days."

"Days," Casey echoed.

"We got you out of there five days ago. The fever kept you down until..." he glanced at his watch. "Yesterday. You were really out of it, hallucinating and everything; Nate told us we should be ready in case something…Brax hasn't left the hospital until now. Nate put him in the doctor's showers once, that's it."

Casey nodded slowly. "You think I'm overreacting."

"Nah. Big bad thing happened. I get it."

He tensed up again suddenly. "What did you tell Ricky?"

"That it's a long complicated story and you'll tell her later, and for now she should just not touch the kid, just call for help if she needs it."

Casey nodded, easing back down. "You can go, if you want."

"And have Brax rip my head off? No, thank you. Want I should put the light off?"

"No!" Casey snapped without meaning to. Heath raised an eyebrow and Casey grimaced. "Sorry. No. It can't be off."

"You'll never sleep with it on."

"I can sleep tomorrow."

Heath shook his head, fiddling with his phone before rising to his feet. "That's no good."

"Heath..."

He flipped the light off, but his phone was shining brightly. He put it on the tray at the side of Casey's bed. "Enough?"

Casey considered it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. That's good. Thanks, Heath."

"Uh huh. Get some sleep, Casey, or we'll never get Brax to leave again."

Casey smiled faintly, closing his eyes and drifting off.

* * *

><p>Nate discharged him a couple of days later, but all that meant was that he moved out of his room and into Kayla's; she still wasn't coping well, and having Casey nearby made things easier for her. Brax made a token protest, but short of dragging him out, there was no way to make him leave, so he struck a deal. Casey was allowed to spend the days with her, but one of his brothers picked him up every evening and brought him home for the night.<p>

Kayla accepted this the way she'd accepted everything else, without argument, though she clearly didn't like him leaving in the evenings. With Casey she talked as normal; if Brax or Kyle was in the room, she was a little more stilted but essentially normal; anyone else and she was silent, responding to direct questions with nods or head shakes and ignoring everything else.

"Casey?" she asked one morning. "What is that?"

"What's what?" he asked absently, glancing up from his hand of cards. Following her gaze, he grinned. "Ah. That is a window. You haven't looked out yet?"

"No, it keeps changing."

"Yeah, it'll do that. Come here." He took her cards out of her hand, tugging her off the bed and across to the window.

Kayla shied slightly when she peered out. "What's up there?"

"Sky. Maybe some clouds."

"I can't see it." She looked upwards again, cautiously.

Casey glanced over his shoulder as Kyle came in; dismissing him, he turned back to Kayla. "It's further away than the ceiling. It's blue, see? That's the sky."

"It's so big," Kayla murmured.

"Yep. And look here." He tugged her slightly to one side, into the pool of sunlight.

"Oh!" Kayla held up a hand, turning it over in the sun. "It's so warm."

"Yeah," Casey agreed, smiling faintly. "It is warm." Kyle shifted slightly, and Casey glanced at him before continuing "You have to be careful outside, because the sun can burn you, but in here is ok."

He left her playing with the sunlight and came back to join Kyle near the door. "What's up?"

"Nate didn't tell you?"

"I haven't seen Nate yet today. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Kyle said quickly. "He thinks Kayla's ready to walk around some. He figured having another body to help wouldn't hurt, and I'm free this morning."

"Where's Phoebe?"

"Sleeping in. She caught a cold, we didn't want to risk passing it on."

"Yeah. Cheers. Around inside, or around outside?"

"Whichever. The point is movement."

Casey nodded, turning back to Kayla; she was still playing with the sunlight, smiling. "Kayla? Want to go for a walk?"

"A what?"

"A walk. Out of this room. Just for a bit."

She glanced around at him, frowning. "Will we come back?"

"Yeah, of course. We're just going to have a look around."

"At what?"

"Dunno. Let's go look."

Kayla's eyes flicked towards Kyle. "Kyle?"

"Yep," Kyle said without moving.

"Are you coming?"

"Is that all right?"

"Yes."

"Great. Let's go, then." Casey dug a pair of hospital slippers out for Kayla, waiting while she figured them out.

"No shoes in the bunker?" Kyle asked under his breath.

"I did, she didn't."

Kayla looked up triumphantly. "Look, I got it."

"You did get it," Casey agreed. "Well done. Come on, let's have a look around."

They wandered around for a while; Kayla peered around curiously, but she didn't speak or make any decisions. Casey paused at every intersection, but she just waited for him to decide where they should go. Casey talked as they went, describing things around them. Kayla looked like she was listening, but he wasn't sure how much she was taking in, or how much she was actually understanding.

"Casey," Kyle murmured after a while. Casey glanced at him, following his gaze to Kayla; she'd stopped looking around, studying her feet instead.

"Hey, Kayla," Casey said softly. She looked up immediately, and he blinked. "Are you tired?"

"I am," Kyle said when she didn't react. "You walk fast, Case. Let's head back."

Casey nodded, glancing around. They'd managed to go mostly in a circle, so they weren't that far from her room; it took only a few minutes to get back, and Kayla climbed onto the bed and sat there, watching them.

"Are you tired?" Casey asked again.

She considered for a moment. "My legs hurt."

"You should have said something."

"Why?"

"Because we could have come back here sooner."

"Your legs hurt because we were walking around," Kyle told her. "If we'd known, we could have come back here earlier, and they might not be hurting as much."

"Do your legs hurt?"

"No, but I spend more time walking around than you do. I don't guess you did much walking around down there."

"No, it was very small." She looked at Casey. "Can I sleep now?"

"Yeah." Casey crossed to the window, tugging at the blind to cover it. "Go ahead. I'm going to talk to Kyle for a minute and then I'll be back."

Kyle let Casey usher him out; in the corridor he leaned against the wall, studying him. "You should go home. Get some rest. I'll stay here."

"I didn't think of that," Casey muttered.

"What, getting some rest?"

"No. I didn't think it would wear her out like that."

Kyle shrugged. "We'll know in future."

"I should have thought of it. I knew she didn't -" He broke off, glaring intently at the nearest wall.

"We're all trying to figure this out," Kyle pointed out. "This was a little mistake. We'll know in future. Go home and get some rest. I'll stay here."

Casey wavered. "Phoebe."

"She's just sleeping. She won't miss me."

Casey scrubbed at his face. "Yeah. Ok, yeah. Thanks."

"Yeah. Can you get home?"

"Yeah. Got the Ute?"

"Don't hit anything," Kyle warned him, passing him the keys.

"You're funny, Kyle."

"I'll see you later."

Kayla was already dozing when he went back into the room; she blinked sleepily, checking on him, rolling over to look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Why is there no music here?"

"What?"

"Is it a bunker thing? Is it not allowed up here?"

"No, it's allowed. I didn't know you missed it. I'll sort something out, ok?" She nodded dreamily and he watched her for a moment. "Why didn't you ask Casey?"

"He didn't like it down there." She rolled back onto her other side, drifting off.

Kyle shook his head, grabbed the cards and a magazine and began laying out Solitaire.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: I'm really glad you guys are enjoying! A million thanks again to my amazing beta. Keep reading, things are starting to get interesting. :D

Chapter Five

Phoebe called later on to say that Casey had slept straight through and Brax wouldn't let him come back in; visiting hours were almost over. "They're still fighting about it," she told him, "but I'm pretty sure Brax is going to win."

"He usually does," Kyle agreed. "How are you feeling?"

"Me, all better. Guess I just needed some extra sleep." He could hear the grin when she added "Mind you, if my man was here to take care of me…"

"Yeah, I hear you. Nate should be here for rounds soon, I'll leave after that."

"When my boyfriend can recite hospital round times, I usually start to worry," she informed him.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Hey. I get it. We're all good."

Something crashed behind her and she added, "I'm going out before you're visiting me in there. Call me when you get out of there."

"Yeah, will do."

Nate came in a few minutes later, nodding absently to Kyle and then looking back. "She sleeping?"

"The walk wore her out." Kyle swept his cards together and laid them aside, sitting forward.

Nate pulled up the blind, glancing back at the bed. "Kayla?"

Nothing happened, and he frowned. Light usually woke her. "Kayla," he repeated, touching her shoulder gently and then, rather more urgently, her face.

"Kyle, get a nurse," he said, tugging lightly to turn her onto her back.

"What's wrong?" Kyle demanded, crossing to the door. Hannah was down the corridor and he waved for her attention.

"She's got a fever." Nate was still doing something; Kyle knew enough to stay out of the way.

Hannah came in and Kyle immediately lost track of the conversation. He waited until Hannah was gone again and Nate's movements had slowed before saying "Nate?"

Nate glanced over at him. "Looks like a flu. Normally we wouldn't worry, we've caught it early, but her immune system's so low right now."

"She caught that today?"

"No, I don't think so. Looks like it's been brewing a couple days."

Kyle gestured to the door, and Nate shook his head. "No point, you've been with her all day. Just stay over there, it's about to get busy in here."

Hannah reappeared with another nurse and an IV bag, and the three started working. Kyle slid back into his corner, texting Brax while no one was looking. A minute later he got a reply; _DO__N'T__ TELL CASEY_, followed a moment later by _Need help?_

_Not yet_, Kyle answered, and then turned the phone off. Hannah and Nate were ignoring him, but the second nurse was glaring.

They worked for a few minutes and then Hannah and the second nurse left. Nate glanced up at Kyle, scribbling in Kayla's chart. "We need to see how she responds to the IV before we can do anything else. We've got this early, though. It should be fine."

"That's what I tell Casey? It should be fine?"

Nate smiled faintly. "If you could avoid telling Casey anything for a while, that'd be great. I don't need the Braxtons camping out in here in my waiting room. It won't help anything."

"He won't be back tonight, Brax is sitting on him, but we won't be able to keep him away tomorrow morning."

"By then we should know what's happening." Nate glanced at the chart again. "I can let you stay if you want, you've been here all day, but I can't let the others in. Don't want to expose her to anything else."

Kyle glanced down at his phone. "I should call Brax."

"And Phoebe," Nate agreed. "Let me know what you're doing."

* * *

><p>Kyle went home, in the end, when Nate said the fever and medicine were just going to keep Kayla asleep anyway. Casey wasn't there; Heath said he'd gone down to surf out his issues, and Brax was watching him.<p>

Phoebe was at the Surf Club. Kyle went down to join her, leaning on the fence overlooking the beach and picking his brothers out with the ease of practise. Casey was definitely angry. Brax was staying just slightly inshore of him, skipping the waves in favour of keeping an eye on him.

"Hey," Phoebe murmured, leaning against him.

"Hey." He wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on hers briefly.

"What's wrong?" she asked without moving.

"Who says anything's wrong?"

"Uh, I know you? C'mere." She pulled out of his arms, catching his hand and dragging him to a seat. Kyle glanced away, realising with a smile that she'd deliberately picked one he could still see the sea from.

Jett appeared a minute later with two drinks; Phoebe paid him far too much and waved it off when he thanked her. "Talk," she ordered Kyle, pushing one of the drinks towards him.

Kyle glanced over his shoulder, watching Jett disappear inside. "Kayla's picked up a flu."

Phoebe whistled softly. "Does Casey know?"

"Think he'd be here if he did? Nate said he'd know better by tomorrow how well she's doing."

"One thing after another with you guys, isn't it."

Kyle smiled faintly, looking down at his cup. He'd gotten over the knee jerk impulse to apologise when things like this happened, mostly, but it didn't mean he wasn't afraid it would be too much for her sometime.

"Looks like I didn't need to bother staying away," she added.

"Probably wouldn't have helped, adding your cold to her flu."

Phoebe got up, coming around the table to plop down in his lap. "Who knows? Maybe the cold would have fought off the flu and she'd have been fine."

"Yeah, or created a super bug mutant strain and wiped everyone out."

"Someone's in a dark mood."

"It's my natural mood."

Phoebe smiled faintly, leaning against him. "Looks like Casey got tired. Or gave up, or something."

Kyle leaned around her to see Casey paddling back towards the shallows. Brax was off his right side, just a little behind him, keeping close watch. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Phoebe asked without moving.

"Anywhere but here. If Casey sees me, I'm either gonna have to lie about Kayla or tell the truth, and if I tell the truth he'll want to go down there, and I'm really not up for another round of Braxton Vs Braxton."

"Another round? You weren't even here for the first round!"

"I've seen it plenty of times."

"Yeah. I guess you probably have." She bounced off his lap. "Right, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To the only other place in this town we can stay a night."

Kyle stared at her for a moment before groaning. "Really?"

"It's the only other place there is."

"The caravan park? I've lived there. Alf Stewart doesn't like me."

"Does Alf Stewart like money?"

He looked back over the railing towards the beach. Casey was trailing out of the water; Brax was still just behind him. "Yeah, all right. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Alf, it turned out, was happy enough to rent them a van for the night. "Considering what's going on, I don't blame you for wanting a night off."<p>

Kyle wasn't sure what the town knew; he'd spent most of his time at Angelo's, where he didn't talk to anyone more than he could help, or at the hospital or with Phoebe. Everyone knew Casey had missing, though – it had been hard to miss, the way his brothers had been acting – and they all knew he was back. Nate probably wasn't talking around town, but Bianca talked to Irene and she talked to everyone, and Phoebe never seemed to care who was around when she talked.

"Can I ask a favour?" Kyle asked as Alf brought them to the van. "If my brothers call…"

Alf eyed him. "Trouble?"

"Just need a night off." Kyle thought dimly that it was probably just as well neither of them had any kind of luggage with them.

"I'm not going to lie to them. But I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

The van was more or less as he remembered; they didn't waste much time looking around, though. The bed was small enough that they had to curl together to sleep; Kyle hadn't been sure he'd fall asleep, but an armful of sleeping girlfriend helped with that.

They woke when Alf knocked on the door. "Up and at 'em, guys, it's late!" he shouted.

"We're up!" Kyle shouted back. "Give us ten!"

"Yep."

He twisted to look at Phoebe. "Morning."

"Morning," she answered.

"Ready to go back to it?" He lifted his arm over her shoulder, squinting at his watch. Casey would be heading to the hospital soon.

"No, but let's anyway." She smiled at his look. "Joking. Let's go."

Kyle waved to Alf as they headed out, turning his phone back on and scanning through the messages. "Nate hasn't called Brax," he said eventually.

"He doesn't have to, right? I mean, Casey technically shouldn't be told anything about her treatment, he's not related."

"Technically," Kyle agreed. "Try telling him that, though."

"Point."

His phone rang and he glanced down at it, sighing. "Brax."

"Go ahead," Phoebe told him.

Kyle sighed, answering the call. "Brax."

"You heard from the doc today?"

"No, sorry. I thought Casey would be in by now."

"I'm sitting on him until we know what's happening." Something clattered in the background, and he added, "Mostly literally. Call Nate."

"Yep." Kyle hung up and redialled, glancing apologetically at Phoebe.

He couldn't get Nate, but he got Hannah. "Nate's still in with her," Hannah told him, sounding rushed. "I haven't – hang on, I just got her results. Thanks," she added off phone. "Ok...Kyle?"

"Yeah."

"It looks like there's no change."

"Nate said you'd know after the IV last night."

"In this case, no change is actually fairly positive. Kayla's holding her own. We're keeping her on immune boosters and antivirals for now, we'll reassess after today."

"What about visiting?"

"We're advising against it. We don't want to introduce any more stress on her system."

"Advising against it," Kyle repeated with a sigh. "Thanks, Hannah. Can you ask Nate to call one of us?"

"Yeah, of course. Listen, don't worry."

"Thanks," he said again, hanging up. Glancing at Phoebe, he pulled her in and planted a quick kiss in her hair. "Come on. Let's go face the music."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Brax, move," Casey said for the fourth time.

Brax shook his head. "Told you, I need to talk to Kyle first."

"You talking to Kyle doesn't have anything to do with me getting out of here."

"Sit down."

"Casey," Ricky said from behind him.

"Don't touch me," he warned her. "Brax, get away from the door."

Ricky studied him for a moment before turning to Brax. "Brax, come here."

"I have to –"

"Talk to Kyle, yeah. You don't have to do it from in front of the door, do you?"

Brax stared at her; she held his gaze, eyes wide, and after a moment he turned back to Casey. "You're not going anywhere."

"No," Casey agreed, watching carefully as Brax moved away from the door.

Ricky slipped past him, propping the door open. "Stuffy in here."

"Subtle, Ricky," Casey said with a sigh.

"Take a breath, huh?" she said softly.

"Case," Brax said from the kitchen doorway; Ricky kept glaring at him when he tried to move closer, even physically blocking him at one point.

"It's nothing."

"Not nothing," Ricky said, going back to join Brax.

Casey grimaced, looking over her head and directly at Brax. "I can't shift you if you don't want to be shifted. So if you're blocking the door, I can't get out."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, Case."

Casey closed his eyes for an instant before meeting Brax's gaze again. "I *_can't get out*_," he repeated slowly.

Brax got it that time; frowning, he stepped around Ricky to study Casey. "Yeah?"

"It's nothing, all right? It's fine."

"Morning," Kyle said uncertainly from the door. Casey retreated, moving to stand in front of the couch and carefully not looking at Kyle.

"Hey, Phoebe, why don't we start breakfast?" Ricky said brightly. "Come on." Phoebe rolled her eyes, squeezed Kyle's hand and headed for the kitchen.

"So what's happening?" Brax demanded before Casey could speak.

Kyle glanced at Casey. "Kayla's picked up a flu. She's fine," he added more quickly, stepping towards the door to block it; Casey halted, back pedalling. "Or she's going to be fine. Nate's advising against visitors, though."

"Get out the way of the door, Kyle," Brax said impatiently. Kyle frowned, but he stepped towards Brax, clearing the doorway. "You're not going," he added to Casey.

"Brax…"

"Doc says no, it's no. Wait until he tells us it's safe. You know her immune system's messed up. Don't go making things worse."

"Did we do it?" Casey asked suddenly, looking at Kyle.

"No. Nate says it's been coming on a couple days. It isn't anything we did or didn't do."

He nodded slowly, looking at Brax. "I need to go out."

"Not –"

"Not to the hospital," he agreed. "Just out."

"Want company?"

"No. I want to not be here."

Brax waved him off. "Take your phone."

"D'you want something to eat?" Ricky called from the kitchen.

"I'll go past the Diner, Ricky, thanks."

Kyle waited until he was gone to turn to Brax. "What's going on now?"

Brax lifted his hands, looking at Ricky, who shook her head. "Casey didn't like not being able to leave."

Kyle got it much faster than Brax had, but he probably should have expected that; Kyle had consistently understood Casey and Kayla's reactions faster than the rest of them. "Should have seen that coming. He ok?"

"Should have seen it coming? What, you couldn't warn the rest of us?"

"Brax," Ricky protested. "That's not fair."

"I can't see the future," Kyle said at the same time.

"But you think you should have seen that coming?"

Kyle flinched, looking away. "I learned from Dad," he muttered. "It wasn't all smacking people around, you know. He was a conman, and I was a very good student. I can read people, and I can usually guess why they're thinking what they're thinking. People are predictable."

"Didn't read me," Ricky said, sounding interested rather than surprised. "During – with Adam."

"You're my brother's girlfriend. I don't have any reason to read you."

"You thought Tamara was in love with you," Brax pointed out.

"That was wishful thinking – does this matter right now? Stay out of the way of the door when Casey's here, check, got it."

"What did Nate say?" Brax asked.

"I couldn't get Nate, I got Hannah. There's no change but that's good in this case, they advise no visitors, they'll know more this evening and Nate will call you or me at some point. Which of us is working today?"

"You are."

"Right." He looked past them into the kitchen. "Walk out with me?"

"Out of here? Definitely," Phoebe agreed, slipping between them. "See you later, guys."

Brax let them go, turning to Ricky with a sigh. "Where did that come from?"

"What?"

"Kyle. Did I just miss that?"

"Apparently," she said, studying him. "You really don't – ninety eight percent of the time, he does exactly the right thing to fit in. You shove him in Angelo's to get him out of your way, three months later he's running it. When he worked with Danny he was a crim. Here in the Bay with you, he's an upstanding – well, he's a member of society, anyway."

"Casey hated him for months. Heath'd still smack him soon as look at him."

"Casey had reasons, and Heath's unpredictable. Look, I know a little about confidence men, yeah? They work on patterns and predictions, and if you don't work to pattern they can't get at you. Kyle's got better at dealing with you two, right?"

"Yeah." Brax considered it. "Yeah, he has. That's a little alarming."

Ricky shook her head. "You heard him, he doesn't do it for us. Listen, breakfast's ready. Eat something. It seems like it's going to be one of those days."

"Is there any other kind?"

* * *

><p>Brax went to Angelo's later on to sort out some of the paperwork; much as he trusted Kyle, there were still things that he had to do himself, as the owner. Kyle didn't avoid him, exactly, but Brax had to make an effort to get him alone just before he left. "Want to ask you something."<p>

"I've never run a con on you," Kyle said immediately. "Not anyone in this town."

"Yeah?"

"Never," he repeated. "Anything you see when you look at me, it's real."

"Trying to kill Case and all?"

"That, and everything else I've done since, yeah. You're my brothers, I didn't want to con my way in. There's no good in that."

Brax nodded slowly. "Right. And this way you have of knowing what Casey's feeling..."

"That's not it," Kyle told him. "Those two are so far off the path, I can't even guess what's going on with them. What I can do, sometimes, is reason out why they react the ways they do. But afterwards. Not beforehand. And anything I figure out that way, I'll tell you if you need it, if they need you to know it."

"Righto," Brax said with a sigh. "Listen, Kyle? I ever even suspect you're running a con on me? You know what I'll do."

"Yeah, I got it."

Brax nodded. "Out of interest, how come you didn't twig to Adam? It wasn't even very sophisticated."

"Because I didn't have any reason to think your dead enemy and your girlfriend were running a play, so I wasn't watching her. I will in future, if you want. I'll pay careful attention to everything she does."

"Make sure Phoebe doesn't hear you talking like that. She won't be too impressed."

Kyle grinned, ducking his head, and Brax turned away.

Nate refused them the next day as well. The day after that Casey didn't bother asking, he just turned up, early in the morning. Kayla was sleeping despite the lights in the room, curled on her side; he watched her for a moment before carefully sitting beside her, holding one hand gently to avoid jerking the IV.

Nate came in to check on her a little later, sighing when he saw Casey. "You really shouldn't be here, you know."

"How is she?"

"She's holding her own, and that's a good sign. I'm hoping to see some improvement today."

"What happens if we don't?"

Nate shook his head. "Let's not worry about that right now. Did you eat this morning? You look pale."

"What? No. I wanted to get out of there before anyone woke up, and nowhere's open yet."

"I'll get something sent up – no arguments, Casey. You want to stay in here, you eat and you keep out of the way. Those are the rules."

Casey nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Nate."

"Oh, and I'm not covering for you when Brax arrives."

"Thanks, Nate," Casey repeated, in a different tone of voice.

"Uh huh. Try and make him keep his voice down, ok? We don't want to wake up the patients."

Casey ate whatever it was on the tray – he wasn't paying enough attention to know what it was, and it all tasted like cardboard anyway – and sat quietly by the bed. Nate had arranged for Hannah to take care of Kayla, so she was the only one Casey saw during the day. The only other person who came in at all was Ricky, who asked if he was eating and did he need anything and then left again.

Towards evening, when Casey was starting to think he was going to be put out, Kayla rolled towards him and opened her eyes. "Hi," she murmured.

"Hi," Casey replied, pressing the call button.

"Are you really real?"

"I'm really real." He touched her hand lightly, still wary of the IV tube. "See?"

"Yes." Her eyes closed again. "Where are we?"

"In the hospital, still. You've been sick."

"Have I?" One eye opened and she looked at him. "Really?"

"Badly sick, yes." He smiled faintly. "Now you know what it feels like."

"Don't like sick," she decided. "How long does it happen for?"

Nate came in in time to hear that, and he smiled at her. "A few days yet, I'm afraid."

Kayla grimaced, trying to push her blanket off, and Casey caught her hands. "I know you feel hot, it's because you're sick. You still have to keep your blanket on."

"Look up," Nate told her. Kayla obeyed, wincing as he checked her glands. "That hurt?"

Kayla glanced at Casey, who shrugged. "I don't know how you feel, Kayla."

"Hurts," she said, barely audible.

Nate nodded. "And apart from that, how do you feel?"

Kayla looked to Casey again, saying uncertainly "Tired?"

"Tell Dr Cooper, not me," he said patiently.

Kayla looked in Nate's direction, carefully not meeting his eyes. "Tired."

"Tired," Nate repeated, as though he hadn't heard anything else. "You're going to feel tired for a while, I'm afraid. That's what happens with flu. Do you feel sick, in your stomach?" Kayla shook her head, and he nodded. "All right. Don't mess with this tube, it's giving you medicine. Stay in bed. If you want to sit up, Casey will prop the bed up, all right? And you know where the call button is." Kayla pointed and he nodded, turning away. "Good thing I can't see that chair over there," he added to no one in particular, not looking at Casey.

Casey smiled faintly, staying in the seat until Nate was gone. "How do you feel?" he asked when the door closed.

"Tired and not sick in my stomach," Kayla said immediately.

"Good. Tell me if that changes. Close your eyes, ok? Get some rest."

* * *

><p>Casey didn't sleep, but he hadn't expected to. Kyle turned up the next morning, just after visiting hours started; Casey went home with a vague protest. For whatever reason, Kayla had accepted Kyle quicker than the others, and he seemed willing enough to sit with her.<p>

Phoebe came back in with him after lunch, following him to Kayla's room. Casey hesitated outside, glancing at her, and she rolled her eyes. "I can wait out here if you want."

"Let me see if she's awake." He cracked the door, peering in, and then smiled. "Here, come look."

Kyle was sitting on the far side of the bed, clearly aware of them but watching Kayla; there was a card pressed against his forehead and he was talking softly, teasing her as she giggled.

"Got him wrapped around her finger, your girl," Phoebe said quietly.

"I give up," Kyle said, just a little louder than before. "I've named all the cards twice. Are you sure I didn't say it?"

Kayla shook her head. "It's the Joker."

"What? How'd that get in there?" He peeled it off his forehead, sighing. "Casey, are you teaching her to cheat?"

"Don't need to cheat against you, mate, you're not difficult to beat." Casey pushed off the doorframe, coming in. "Kayla, how are you feeling?"

"Not sick in my stomach."

"Glad to hear it. Want to meet someone?" She looked up at him and he smiled, looking towards the door. "Phoebe is Kyle's girlfriend, Kayla."

Kayla turned her head, watching Phoebe from the corner of her eye; Kyle frowned, watching her, but he didn't speak, only held out a hand to get Phoebe to join him.

"Phoebe helped the boys to find us," Casey continued. "It's because of her we got out of the bunker."

"Thank you," Kayla said, voice completely flat.

"No problem," Phoebe said, glancing at Kyle. He was still watching Kayla, but he shifted to draw Phoebe onto his knee and she went willingly enough.

"Casey, do you want us to wait?" Kyle asked. "Visiting's over in another hour."

"Nah, it's fine, thanks. You guys go ahead."

"Nate should be back around in a while." Kyle let Phoebe go just enough to stand, keeping hold of her as he gathered his jacket and left.

In the corridor he let go of her hand to pull on his jacket. Phoebe leaned against the wall, watching him. "Not that I object, but what was that about?"

"Testing a theory."

"And?"

Kyle looked up, meeting her eyes. "Nothing to worry about. Come on, Brax thinks I'm staying here another hour. Let's go make the most of it."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Casey found Kyle closing up at Angelo's that evening; he pitched in without speaking, helping to clear the rubbish and put up the chairs. Kyle didn't speak or question him until they were walking back up the beach together. "What's wrong?"

"You tell me." Casey was watching the sea; Brax had warned him, at length, about going in without either Heath or Brax with him, and he was starting to miss it. "What was going on this afternoon?"

"This afternoon?" Kyle repeated.

"With Phoebe."

"Hey, guys." Ricky caught up to them from behind.

"You're out late," Kyle noted.

"Just getting some air. What's up?"

"Kyle was just about to tell me why Kayla was mad at Phoebe," Casey told her.

"She was?"

"Mmm. Kyle?"

Kyle grimaced, looking away. "Kayla has a crush, I think. She didn't like Phoebe being there with me."

Ricky grinned. "That surprises you?"

"Surprises me," Casey muttered, but he quirked a smile when Ricky glanced at him.

"Functionally, Kayla's what, thirteen?"

"About, yeah. Maybe younger, even, she wasn't eleven when she went down there. Haven't quite figured it out yet; it's not like they can give her tests or anything."

"And she hasn't really seen any boys before, ever. And Kyle is tall, dark, handsome, and he's been spending time with her and being nice to her. It'll pass."

"Once she gets to know you," Casey added.

Ricky pushed him affectionately. "I wouldn't worry, Kyle. It'll pass. She's still adjusting, right?"

"Think Phoebe figured it out?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so, but...don't girls know that kind of thing?"

He aimed it at Ricky, who shrugged. "Depends on the girl. And the bloke, sometimes. I really wouldn't worry, Kyle. It'll pass."

"You're not going to stop going to see her, are you?" Casey asked.

"You still want me to?"

Casey shrugged. "She likes you. You make things easier. And whatever else I think about you, I don't think you'll hurt her."

Kyle nodded, looking away. "Sure, if you want me to."

They walked on in silence for a moment; and then he grinned suddenly, turning to Ricky. "You think I'm handsome?"

* * *

><p>Heath made Casey start back at work. It made visiting the hospital more complicated, but they worked around it, and having work to do steadied Casey a little, gave him something else to think about. Spencer did his best to be available whenever needed, and if Andy wasn't that helpful, he wasn't poking fun or making trouble either. That was more than Casey had expected, really; he'd been braced for mocking questions about his health or his holiday away from work.<p>

Josh turned up on Casey's second day back, hanging around until Casey gave up and went to meet him, guiding him out into the Surf Club proper. "Hey, Josh."

"Hey." Josh was looking him over without bothering to hide it. "How are you?"

"I'm doing better." Casey waved him to a table, sitting across from him. "What have you heard?"

"Not much. Your brothers weren't really talkative when you were – and Brax said I shouldn't come by yet, that you were still getting back to yourself."

"Sounds like Brax," Casey murmured. "Listen, I know you'll talk to Andy, but don't let this go any further, all right? Not yet, anyway."

Josh shook his head quickly. "I won't talk to Andy. He hasn't asked, anyway."

Casey glanced back towards the gym. "No, he hasn't," he murmured, almost to himself.

Turning back to Josh, he went through the basics of the story; his kidnap, being held in the bunker, and his brothers' rescue of him and Kayla. "She's up at the hospital, still, she's kind of messed up," he said finally.

"I bet she is," Josh agreed. "Casey, I'm so sorry."

"You didn't have anything to do with it."

"Can I meet her? Sometime," he added quickly. "When she's feeling better."

"Yeah. She needs to start meeting more people." Casey eyed him. "I'll have to figure out how to explain you."

"Explain me?" Josh repeated.

Casey shook his head. "Not you, I mean – I haven't told her about half brothers or anything yet. Just brothers. The Braxton-Barretts aren't the best way to explain anything."

"I dunno, plenty of examples." Josh grinned at his look. "You could always just say I was a friend or something. I wouldn't be insulted."

"We'll see when it happens." He glanced back at the gym again. "Listen, I need to…"

"Yeah, of course. How's Andy been?"

"Surprisingly restrained. That your influence?"

Josh shook his head. "That's all him." Casey studied him, and he grinned. "Well, I may have pointed out that he wouldn't like it if people were bugging me if I was in your situation."

"Thanks."

He shrugged. "It's not much to do. Look, if either of us can help…"

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks."

* * *

><p>Kayla was awake when he reached the hospital that evening, which wasn't always true lately; she was recovering from the flu, but she was tired all the time, no energy for anything. "Hey," Casey murmured, touching her hand lightly.<p>

"Hello," she answered, turning her hand over to catch his.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. I hate being sick."

"Yeah. Most people do, I'm afraid. You're doing better, though."

"Yes, Dr Nate says so."

"Well, Dr Nate's usually right. Have you eaten yet?"

"They brought food," she said carefully.

Casey made a face. "You should eat, you know."

"So should you."

"I ate earlier. Come on. I'll get something sent up."

"Do you want some?"

"Nah. Told you, I ate earlier."

He leaned out of the room for an orderly; when he came back in Kayla was fiddling with her hair. "What's up?" he asked, perching on the bed.

Kayla looked upwards uncertainly, and he laughed. "I can't believe that worked. 'What's up' means what's happening, what's going on. Right now, it means, what are you thinking about."

"Oh. I was thinking, that Dr Nate suggested I should get my hair cut, and I don't know what he meant."

Casey leaned over and bracketed her hair at shoulder level. "You could get all this bit cut off, and just have it short. Or a different length, if you want."

"What happens to the cut off bit?"

"It just gets thrown out, and then you don't have to spend so long brushing it or anything."

Kayla tugged lightly at his hair, just above his temple. "Yours is short."

"Guys usually have short hair. Girls usually have longer. I tell you what, you remember Ricky?"

"Ricky is Brax's girlfriend."

"Yep. I bet she'd have some good ideas for how you could look. I could ask her to come in?"

"Thank you." Kayla turned, leaning against him.

"Ah, no, you can't go to sleep yet. You have to eat."

"I'm tired," she protested.

"Well, if you don't eat, Nate will have to start feeding you through a tube. And trust me, that really hurts."

The orderly came in with a tray and Casey thanked him, pushing Kayla until she sat up. "You eat too," she ordered.

Casey sighed, scanning the tray and picking up a tub of apple slices. "I'll have this. Now eat."

Kayla grumbled through the tray, but she ate most of it, falling asleep soon after. Casey left shortly after that, heading back home and collapsing onto the couch.

"Hey, Casey," Ricky said, "what kind of music does Kayla like?"

Casey thought about it, but he couldn't make that make sense. "What?"

"Music," she repeated, coming to sit opposite him. "Kyle says she asked for some. I got this MP3 from Phoebe, but I've no idea what to put on it; I don't know what her tastes are."

He blinked, trying to think. "It was mostly classical down there, but – Phoebe?"

"Yeah?" she called from the back porch.

"You don't have any death metal thrash on there, right?"

She appeared at the door, grinning. "Death metal thrash?"

"Don't start with me, it's been a very long day."

"Aw, poor boy. There's no death metal thrash. There's not even much rock. It's mostly completely inoffensive pop. Nothing to traumatise her."

"Thanks."

"Sure."

He looked back at Ricky as Phoebe vanished again. "I wanted to ask you if you'd come in tomorrow."

"Something you wanted me for?"

"Nate suggested a haircut, and Kayla's a bit confused about the concept. I thought you could suggest some styles." Ricky grinned at him, and he shrugged. "Well, what do I know about girls' hair styles?"

"Yeah, point. Yours is bad enough. When are you going in?"

"Early, I'm working late."

"I'll be there." She smiled again, standing to head back to her room. Casey leaned his head back and closed his eyes, drifting as he listened to the sounds of the house.

"Case?"

"Mmm." He lifted his head – when did it get so heavy? – and focused on Brax with an effort. "Hey."

"Hey. You've been dozing a while. Should get to bed. How's Kayla?"

"Much better. She's much better."

"Good. Up you get, mate, go to bed. Rick says you're going in early tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'm borrowing your girl."

Brax nodded, watching critically as Casey sorted his arms and legs out and got to his feet. "You need a couple days off, Casey."

"Yeah. Easier said, Brax."

"I guess so. Want me to take Rick in? You could sleep in some."

Casey considered it before nodding finally. "You mind? I could really do with the rest. Nate suggested getting her hair cut, that's what Ricky's going in for."

"We'll handle it. You get some sleep. I'll try and keep the noise down to a dull roar."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Brax." Casey smiled faintly at him, wandering towards his room.

* * *

><p>Brax made sure he was the first one up the next morning, keeping the others quiet until he and Ricky left. They were quiet on the way into the hospital; Ricky fiddled with the MPs player, making sure it was charged up and ready.<p>

Kayla was awake when they came in; she was out of bed, sitting by the window. "Morning," Brax said, closing the door behind Ricky.

"Good morning Brax. Good morning Ricky." She glanced past them and then looked at Brax, frowning.

"Casey can't make it in today," Brax explained. "He asked me to come check on you. How're you feeling?"

"Not sick."

"Attagirl."

"Here, we brought you this." Ricky sat on the arm of the chair, showing her how to work the MP3. "We can put different music on it, too, so if there's anything you don't like, or really like, we can change it, all right?"

"Thank you," Kayla said, pressing the headphones against her ear. Ricky carefully took them from her, showing her how to put them over her head.

"Casey said you were wondering about cutting your hair," Ricky said.

"Dr Nate thinks I should," Kayla agreed, setting the headphones neatly aside.

Brax caught Ricky's attention. "I'm going to go find the doc while you two talk hair."

"You don't want to help?" Ricky asked innocently.

"His hair is like Casey's," Kayla said quietly.

"Yeah, it is a bit," Ricky agreed. "All right, Brax, run along and let the girls talk." She grinned, turning back to Kayla.

Brax found Nate, talked briefly, and then wandered back to the room. Ricky came out a little later, dialling on her phone.

"What's going on?" Brax asked.

"I'm calling Marilyn."

Brac caught her phone, flipping it closed. "That smart? Marilyn finds out about this, the whole town's gonna know."

"Yeah, it's about time. We can't keep her hidden in here forever."

"You check with Casey?"

Ricky smiled innocently. "I figured I could ask for forgiveness later on?"

Brax passed the phone back, sighing. "I didn't know anything about it."

"Fair enough."

He slipped into the room when Ricky started dialling again. Kayla was sitting on the side of the bed, finger combing her hair with a frown. "Hey."

She looked up at him, blinking. "Brax."

"You ok? We don't have to bring Maz in if you don't want to."

"No, I don't mind."

Brax studied her. "Well, that's a lie."

"I don't mind," Kayla insisted. "I didn't know about Marilyn."

"What didn't you know?"

Kayla considered, looking back at her hair. "How many are there?"

"How many what? Marilyn's pretty much one of a kind."

"Not Marilyn. People."

Brax sat, watching her. "In the world? Far too many for you or me to ever count. In Summer Bay? A bit less than that. And most of them are good people; they want to help, when they can."

"You help me."

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"Uh huh."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Dear reviewer who figured out a plot twist well before I was going to reveal it; grr. :D

Chapter 8

Ricky waited in the corridor for Marilyn to arrive, nodding to Hannah and smiling awkwardly at Nate whenever they passed by. Nate in particular seemed to have to go by every few minutes, and she was relieved when Marilyn arrived.

"Thanks for coming, Maz." She stood to welcome her, sitting when Marilyn did.

"Oh, well, anything to help out. Although I don't know how I can help you."

"Well, that's why I waited out here for you, so I could explain a bit before you go in. First, I have to know that you can keep this quiet. You'll understand why when I explain."

"Every hairdresser learns to keep secrets," Marilyn assured her.

Ricky smiled. "We – I mean the Braxtons – have been helping out this girl, a patient of Nate's. She's come out of an abusive situation, she's very shy, she's very wary, and there's a lot of things we take for granted that she just doesn't understand. Like getting your hair cut. It's been a few years at least."

"Oh, how awful," Marilyn murmured. "And how nice of you all to help out."

"It's important to Casey. That makes it important to us. Her name is Kayla, and she's sixteen, but she won't act it. Try not to react if she does anything odd. Brax or I will be there the whole time anyway."

"When you say odd…"

"She's not violent or anything," Ricky assured her. "She's more likely to retreat if she gets upset. But she has an odd way of phrasing things, and sometimes what you explain isn't what she hears. You have to make sure she understands."

"Right."

"Marilyn, it's important that this goes well. Apart from the medical staff, you're the first non-Braxton she's met. If it doesn't go well it'll be harder to get her to meet anyone else. If you don't want to…"

"No, of course I want to. I understand."

"Oh, and Brax will probably remind you about keeping this to yourself. He's trying to protect Casey, you know how he gets." Marilyn nodded and Ricky stood. "Let's go in, then."

Brax glanced up when they came in. Kayla was still finger combing her hair, looking completely absorbed in it. "Kayla," Ricky said, and she looked up. "This is my friend Marilyn."

"Hello Marilyn."

"Hello, Kayla. It's very nice to meet you."

Ricky sat on the end of the bed. "Kayla, you know that Nate's job is making people better when they're sick."

"Yes, he's Dr Nate."

"He sure is. And Marilyn's job is helping people with their hair. I asked her to come help you."

"Thank you," Kayla said automatically.

"I'm going to head," Brax said, "but first, talk to you for a second, Maz?"

"Yes, of course." Marilyn dug a cape out of her bag, passing it to Ricky with a smile, and followed Brax to the door.

Brax rubbed at his forehead for a moment. "Thanks for coming in, Marilyn."

"Anything to help."

"I need to know you'll be discrete about this."

She patted his arm gently. "A hairdresser who can't keep secrets doesn't stay in business very long, Brax. I don't know why you're hiding, though. You're doing a good thing."

"It's a little more complicated than that. I'm going to trust you. I get John Palmer coming over offering his help, I'm going to know who told him."

"Yes, I have it."

He glanced over at Ricky. "I'll see you later."

"Go check on Case, Brax, we're fine here."

He headed off and Marilyn went back to Ricky, smiling suddenly. "My, he's scary, isn't he?"

"Worried about Casey. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's nice. Now." She studied Kayla. "What are we going to do with you."

* * *

><p>Casey called in to the gym; Spencer offered to cover without question. Casey made him put Andy on the phone and got a promise that he'd stick around a while after his shift so Spencer wasn't closing alone.<p>

After that he just – did nothing. Kyle and Phoebe were around, but neither of them bothered him, just occasionally wandered through to check on him; Phoebe offered him lunch when they were eating, but Casey went out for a walk instead. Bianca and Heath were at the beach with Harley, and Casey sat with them for a while before wandering off again. It was a quiet, unstructured day.

Brax was home when Casey finally wandered in that evening. "Hey. Where've you been?"

"Down the beach." Casey flopped onto the couch. "How was your day?"

"Yeah, it was fine. You?"

"Yeah."

Brax leaned down, cupping the back of Casey's head and studying him. Casey pushed him away, glowering. "Stop that. I'm just tired."

"Eat something," Brax ordered, letting go as someone knocked on the front door.

Marilyn was standing on the doorstep; she smiled when she saw Brax. "Hello, Brax."

"Marilyn."

"I just wanted to assure you again that I won't be talking to anyone. And to tell you, if there's anything I can help with…"

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks. Do I owe you for today?"

"Oh, no. Consider it a welcome to the Bay present."

Brax glanced over his shoulder, but Casey had moved to the kitchen. "Thanks, Marilyn."

"My pleasure." She smiled at him again, turning to head back to the Palmers'.

Casey leaned out of the kitchen, studying Brax. "What was that?"

"She's just helping me out with something. Don't worry about it."

Casey shrugged, wandering towards his room, and Brax took a moment to breath before heading for the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Ricky went in with Casey the next day, bouncing into Kayla's room ahead of him and spinning to face him. "Ready?"<p>

"For what?" he asked, confused, and then blinked when he saw Kayla. Marilyn had cut her hair short around her face, longer at the front; it softened her face and made her look older. "Wow."

"Is it pretty?" Kayla asked worriedly.

"Very pretty. I like it a lot. Did Ricky do that?"

"Her friend Marilyn."

Casey looked over her head at Ricky. "Her friend Marilyn, huh."

"Yes. She was nice."

Ricky shrugged innocently. "She was nice, Casey."

"Yeah. We'll talk about this later. How are you feeling today?"

"Good." She grinned at him, and he grinned back helplessly.

He even managed not to be too angry at Ricky, since Kayla was clearly so happy with the results. Brax, coming in with him the next afternoon, had to promise three times to be impressed, and eventually threatened to slap Casey upside the head if it was mentioned again. Casey just grinned, heading into Kayla's room and immediately stopping dead. Brax pushed him lightly to one side, stepping in.

Kayla was curled on her side, and there was blood on her pillow.

Not much, Brax noted professionally, and she was awake, if slow to respond to them. Casey dropped on the side of the bed, lifting her head gently to inspect it. "Why is there blood on your pillow?" he demanded. "Kayla, what happened?"

"A man came and took out one of my teeth," she slurred.

"What?"

"A man. Nate brought him. He said it needed to be done." She poked experimentally at her cheek. "This is very strange."

Casey shoved to his feet, heading for the door. Brax stepped into his path. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to ask Nate what he thinks he's doing!"

"He thinks he's taking care of her medical needs, which is what he's supposed to be doing."

"He's supposed to let us know when he's doing anything!"

Brax shook his head, looking down. "Casey..."

"What?"

"Nate can do anything he wants. He has her medical power of attorney, you know that. He doesn't have to answer to anyone."

Casey shook his head. "She's mine."

"Case..."

"You know she is."

"Yeah, well, that's a different issue, mate. I'll talk to Nate and ask him if he can keep us up to date, ok?"

"I'll talk to him myself." Casey left the room before Brax could stop him.

Kayla protested wordlessly; when Brax looked at her she reached for his hand to lever herself upwards. "Why is he angry? Did I do something bad?"

"No. It's not you."

"Dr Nate brought him here."

"It's not you. Casey wants to make sure you're all right. He's just mad he didn't know this was happening. Is there more or is that it?"

"No more now. A few years, maybe."

"Good. Listen, I need to go make sure Casey isn't doing anything stupid. You hang tough, one of us'll be back in a few minutes."

"I think I will sleep."

"Good plan," he agreed, slipping out of the room.

Casey was waiting in the corridor, clearly still angry. "Talk to Nate yet?" Brax asked.

"No. Hannah's guard dogging me."

"Casey –"

"I know," Casey interrupted him. "Nate's her doctor, he makes the calls, anything he tells us is a privilege not a right. I know all that, Brax, I do, but I just...there's blood on her pillow."

"Yeah. I know, mate."

Nate came around the corner, hesitating slightly when he saw them. "I was just on my way to call you. Wasn't expecting you until after lunch."

"I had to switch shifts with Spencer. Some school thing. Dentist?"

"You've been in already. Yes, dentist. It needed to be done and the dentist had a cancellation today, so he came up to see her as a favour to me. I was going to tell you about it either way today."

"She's all right now?"

"For now."

"Right." Casey nodded slowly. "Thanks, Nate."

"Of course," Nate agreed.

Casey went back into the room and Nate looked at Brax. "That was unexpected."

"He's trying out this new thing called 'keeping calm'."

"He's doing well, too. I really was going to call."

"I believe you, doc. Bad timing, that's all." Brax glanced at the door to Kayla's room. "How much longer d'you reckon she's going to be here?"

"We can start thinking about transferring her to outpatient status in the next few days." Nate studied him. "You do know she won't –"

"Come to us, yeah, I figured. I gotta start working on Casey, though. Any ideas where she will end up?"

"Still working on that, I'm afraid. A home isn't really suitable, she needs too much personalised care, which limits us a bit."

"Keep us in the loop?"

"Course."

* * *

><p>Nate was still thinking about it that evening, deeply enough that Leah had to lean over and poke him to get his attention. "Hm? Sorry."<p>

"What's got you thinking so hard?"

"Are you implying something?"

She made a face at him and he shook his head. "I was thinking about Kayla. She should be switching to outpatient, but I can't find anywhere for her. I don't want to put her in a home, it won't be what she needs, but she can't stay in the hospital either. And I think Casey still thinks he can bring her home."

"It's a bad situation. Poor kid."

"The worst part is she's really taken to Brax and Kyle. I hate to move her away from them."

Leah considered, standing and gathering the plates, heading to the kitchen. "You're effectively *_in loco parentis*_, right?"

Nate picked up the glasses and cutlery, following her. "I have her medical power of attorney, yeah. That's all we can do until her father's convicted."

"Bring her here."

"Excuse me?"

Leah turned off the tap, turning to look at him. "We have a spare room now that Bianca's moved back to the Braxtons. VJ won't be back for a while anyway. I'm a trained counsellor and you're her doctor."

"She needs a lot of help."

"So do most people who end up in Summer Bay. We usually manage all right."

Nate smiled faintly, considering the counter. "Did I need help?"

"Do you think you got help?"

He picked up a towel to dry the dishes. "You're sure about this?"

"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't. Do you think you can?"

"Probably. Solves a problem for DoCS. I'll look into it tomorrow. Thanks, Leah."

"Any time."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: Sorry for the late update! Enjoy.

Chapter Nine

Brax was helping to set up in Angelo's the next day when his phone rang. Passing his handful of glasses to Ricky, he answered. "Nate."

"Brax," Nate said cheerfully. "Got an update for you on that subject we were discussing yesterday."

"Hang on a sec." Lowering the phone, he shouted for Kyle; when he appeared out of the kitchen, Brax flicked the phone to speaker. "Go ahead, doc."

Kyle came to join them at the table as Nate told them, "I've applied for custody, and it's gone through."

"That's quick," Ricky said in surprise.

"DoCS are happy to get it done, they weren't having any luck finding somewhere suitable. She'll be coming home with me. Between Leah and me, we should be all right."

"Yeah, I can see that," Brax agreed.

"Look, Casey's here, but I haven't said anything to him. Kayla doesn't know, either. Nothing else goes wrong, I'm looking at signing her out the day after tomorrow. Brax, we want you and your brothers to keep seeing her and working with her like you have been. We're just moving venues."

"That'll make it a bit easier on Casey. I'll talk to him tonight, yeah?"

"Sounds good. Thanks."

"Thank you, mate."

Nate hung up and Brax glanced at the others. "That solves a problem."

"Does it?" Ricky started slowly laying out the glasses.

"Kayla's ready for discharge, and Nate was having trouble finding anywhere nearby for her."

"Casey wouldn't have liked that." Kyle leaned over the bar, grabbing the cutlery tray and coming back to join them.

"Nah. He wouldn't. But having her in Leah's, that'll be…" He shrugged. "Better than nothing."

"He thinks she's coming to us," Ricky said slowly.

"Don't know what he's thinking, but he's not planning on giving her up." He glanced at Kyle. "You make sure you're home early; I want you there when I talk to him."

"It's not a magic mind reading power," Kyle reminded him impatiently.

"Closest we've got. Rick?"

"I think two of you telling him this is probably enough. I'll cover Kyle here."

"Righto, be ready when I call you, then. Now let's get this place ready, hey?"

Brax left just before opening, heading home to relax for a while. Phoebe was there, but she stayed out on the back porch, strumming absently at her guitar. By Braxton standards, the house was quiet as the grave.

Casey came home earlier than Brax was expecting; he sent a quick text to Kyle before heaving himself off the couch. "Hey. How're things going?"

"Yeah, good." Casey made a face at the contents of the fridge, closing it without taking anything. "I'm tired, though."

"Long days, the gym and then the hospital. You should take a day off."

"Nah, I'm right." Casey glanced at him. "What's up with you?"

"Me? Nothing, mate. Why d'you ask?"

"Possibly because I know you? You want to tell me something."

"Want might be a strong term," Brax muttered.

Casey folded his arms. "Right. Well, now I'm worried."

"It's not something to worry about."

"That doesn't help if you won't tell me what it is."

"Yeah." Brax scrubbed at his face briskly. "Listen, I was talking to Nate, earlier."

"Yeah? He didn't say anything when I saw him just now." Casey eyed him. "Because he wanted you to tell me. Who are we waiting for?"

"Kyle," Brax said honestly.

"Why Kyle?"

Brax didn't answer, and Casey sighed. "Right, well, I have time to shower?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Kyle arrived a few minutes later; Casey must have heard the door, because he came back out, still pulling on his t shirt. "So what's the big mystery?"

Kyle leaned against the kitchen wall, watching them. Brax stood from the couch again, waving Casey closer. "Talked to Nate."

"Yeah, you said." Casey sat; Brax perched on the coffee table in front of him. "What was so important?"

"He's switching Kayla to outpatient, day after tomorrow."

"That's great."

"She's gonna move in with him and Leah."

Casey stared at him, lips moving for a moment. "...what?"

"She's moving into Leah's. They have space, Nate's her doc and Leah's a counsellor. Nate's got her power of attorney anyway."

"For medical issues."

"Closest she has to a guardian right now. He'll probably get that, too, pretty soon. Aren't a lot of other choices."

Casey swallowed, looking away. "I was gonna apply."

"Yeah," Brax said softly. "I figured. But mate, all of us got records. And even with the two of you being – DoCS would never put her in here. You know that, if you think about it."

Casey glanced at Kyle before slumping down in his seat. "Yeah. I guess I do. I thought – I mean, that's all in the past. I guess I convinced myself it wouldn't matter any more."

"Nate wants us to keep visiting and working with her, same as always. Nothing's changing but the venue."

"Yeah." Casey scrubbed a hand over his head. "I'm gonna go for a walk."

"It's late."

"I won't be long."

Brax nodded, leaning back to get out of his way. "Case? I thought it'd help, I'd apply myself. You know that, yeah?"

"Yeah, Brax, I know." Casey forced a smile, turning away to leave the house.

Brax grimaced, dropping onto the couch. Kyle pushed off the wall, moving to lean against the kitchen table. "That went well."

"I dunno. I think he's bottling everything up."

"He does that?" Kyle glanced towards the door. "He's never struck me as the kind to hide what he's feeling."

"He did it after Dad. And then he erupted." Brax leaned his head back, rolling it around to look at Kyle. "Did he really think he'd get care of the kid?"

Kyle thought about it for a moment. "I think he didn't think he wouldn't."

"Didn't think about it at all?"

"Yeah. But he knows you meant it, about applying. I think he understands why we wouldn't get her."

"Good." Brax glanced at him. "I don't think I've said it, but you've stepped up, and I'm grateful."

Kyle blinked, and then smiled. " 'Course."

"No, I mean it. You're putting a lot of time and effort into Casey's problems. And I know I've pretty much dragged you along a couple of times, but that's because I genuinely think you can help."

"Thanks."

Brax nodded slowly. "We aren't the guys who say this, Kyle, but if you were down in that hole? We'd have looked every bit as hard. Every bit."

"Thanks," Kyle repeated softly. Clearing his throat, he added, "Course, Phoebe wouldn't have given you much choice."

Brax laughed. "Nah, that she would not. Listen, I'll go help Ricky close up if you want the night. Phoebe's out back, go make sure she still knows what you look like."

"Are you sure?"

"Take advantage of my unusual generosity and have fun with your girl. Something else'll probably come up tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Kyle grinned, heading out the back before Brax could change his mind.

Sighing, he heaved himself to his feet and grabbed his keys, letting himself out.

* * *

><p>"Why not?" Kayla asked again.<p>

"Because we're Braxtons," Casey said bitterly.

"So?"

"Braxtons have a really bad reputation," Kyle explained. "My brothers used to get into trouble all the time, and now most people don't trust them very well. Not enough to put a kid in their house, and definitely not a girl."

"But I want to be there."

"I know. It doesn't matter. You know Dr Cooper, it'll be fine with him."

"There's four people in that house," Casey muttered. Kyle glanced at him, but he didn't comment and Kayla didn't seem to have heard him. "And you got in enough trouble yourself, Kyle, don't go putting it all on us."

"Will you come see me?" Kayla asked Casey.

"All the time. Promise."

"All right," she agreed with a sigh. "I'll be good."

"Attagirl," Kyle said approvingly. "Tell you what, I'll bring you into town for lunch some day. We'll leave Casey at home."

"I like when Casey comes," she protested.

"Well, I'll think about it. Maybe we'll bring him." He scowled at Casey's look. "What?"

"She doesn't get sarcasm, genius."

Nate tapped on the door, letting himself in. "Everything sorted?"

"Yes," Kayla said. "I will go with you, and Casey will come and visit, and Kyle will bring me out for lunch."

"Will he? That's nice of him. Let's go, then, I'm heading home now."

"Nate," Casey protested.

"Tomorrow, Casey, you can come and see her tomorrow. Not too early, either. Let her get settled in."

Casey scowled. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Nate ignored the sarcasm. "Let's go, Kayla."

Casey trailed them to the carpark, watching as Kayla climbed in and sat quietly. Nate waved at them, pulling out and heading back towards town.

"We're parked over here," Kyle said after a minute. Casey glanced around in surprise – he hadn't realised Kyle was that close – and followed him over to the Ute. "Does she do that on purpose?"

"Do what on purpose?"

"The way she talks around other people."

Casey shrugged, propping his elbow against the window and leaning on his hand. "I don't know how much of it is deliberate."

"But it's other people?"

"You, me, Brax most of the time. Apart from that..." He shrugged.

"You haven't asked?"

"I don't know if she knows she's doing it, Kyle. If she does know, she's doing it for a reason, and if she doesn't, it'll just upset her if I tell her to stop."

Kyle frowned. "Either way, maybe it'll fade once she gets used to people."

"Yeah. Maybe it will."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: I have now caught up to my amazing beta, so updates will be a bit slower as she works through sections.

Be warned; the next chapter, whenever it posts, has someone briefly talking about a time they felt suicidal. Nothing comes of it, but it's there and I don't want anyone triggered. If you'd rather skip the chapter, I'll summarize it at the top of the next one.

Chapter Ten

Brax enlisted everyone in the house to keep Casey from leaving too early the next day. Casey knew what they were doing, but he went along with it, mostly to keep Brax quiet. It was close to lunch time when Brax finally ran out of ways to hold him up and let him go. Kyle offered to go with him, and Brax agreed on Casey's behalf before he could argue.

"I won't get in your way," Kyle promised.

"Yeah, yeah, Brax thinks this is better, I know," Casey said with a sigh. "Why's he keep pushing you at me?"

Kyle grimaced, looking away. "He thinks I have some idea how you're feeling. Don't look at me like that, I've told him I haven't got a clue. I don't think anyone does."

"Why does he think that?"

Kyle shrugged. "Because I'm a conman, Casey, and a good conman can read his target."

Casey eyed him for a moment, and Kyle sighed. "I can't tell what you're thinking, I can't tell what you're going to do, and I have to work at it anyway," he reeled off. "Brax thinks it's some magic wand, I know everything you two are going through. I keep telling him it's not." Glancing at Casey, he added, "I've never conned you."

"I wasn't thinking you had, but now I'm wondering...joke, Kyle."

Kyle scowled, following him up to Leah's back door; it was propped open, and Casey knocked on the frame, leaning in. "Nate?"

"He's not here! Come in!" Leah called from the living room. "Hey, Casey. Kyle."

"Hi." Casey glanced around. "How'd it go?"

Leah considered. "Yesterday was fine? She hasn't come out of her room today, I knocked and she talked to me but she doesn't want to come out."

"Can I…" Casey gestured towards the bedrooms.

"Yeah, of course. She's in Tamara's old room."

Kyle trailed Casey down the hall, watching as he tapped on the door. "Kayla?" She didn't answer, and he glanced at Kyle. "I'm coming in, Kayla."

Kyle didn't go in, leaning against the doorframe to keep Leah out. Casey glanced around, confused, before rounding the bed and finding Kayla sitting on the floor on the other side, knees drawn up to her chest.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He sat down opposite her, watching carefully.

Kayla shook her head. "I don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"What I did wrong."

Casey frowned. "You didn't do anything wrong, Kayla. What is it?"

Kayla glanced up at the ceiling light; Casey followed her look and turned to Kyle. "Ask Leah if there's a nightlight in here?"

Kyle relayed the question, looking back at them. "No. Tam didn't use one."

Casey nodded, turning back to Kayla. "It wasn't a punishment. Leah just didn't understand. You didn't do anything wrong. We'll get you a light and I'll make sure Leah knows it has to be on, all right? It's not a punishment, I promise. Trust me?"

Kyle stepped back into the living room. Leah was waiting, looking down the corridor with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"There's no nightlight," Kyle said with a sigh. "So when you turned out the light, it was dark in there." Leah shrugged, and he added, "When her father wanted to punish them, he turned out all the lights and left them in the dark. Didn't Nate tell you? It was in her notes at the hospital."

Leah grimaced, sitting down. "He got called in on an emergency; he didn't have time to tell me much of anything. I'm so sorry, I didn't realise."

"It's not your fault. We're all still learning."

Casey reappeared; Kayla was behind him, watching them both nervously. Leah started to stand; Kyle caught her shoulder, urging her to sit back down. Kayla shifted slightly, taking a step to the side to see her more clearly.

"Kayla, I'm really sorry," Leah said when no one spoke. "I didn't realise. I'll get you a light, and we'll make sure it's working, ok? I'm sorry."

"See?" Casey said, slightly too loudly. "I told you it wasn't a punishment."

"Definitely not a punishment," Leah said quickly. "I just got it wrong. I'm sorry."

Kayla nodded slowly, but she didn't seem any more relaxed, and Kyle said quickly "Hey, how about a card game? Leah, do you have cards?"

"In the drawer." Leah pointed without moving; Casey let go of Kayla to find them. She looked uncertainly after him, not moving.

"Here," he said after a minute. "Come sit down. Leah, would you like to play?" Kayla didn't move; Kyle stepped away from Leah, steering Kayla to the table without touching her.

Leah met Casey's look; he nodded very slightly, and she said brightly "I'd love to play. Is that all right, Kayla?" Kayla shrugged one shoulder, watching intently as Casey shuffled the cards; Kyle gestured Leah to join them anyway.

They tried Go Fish, but Kayla wasn't talking. Casey switched to Snap after a couple of minutes and that went better; she was loosening up as they went, even smiling a little here and there.

Kyle excused himself after a while to head to work; Casey and Leah kept on playing, teasing more smiles and laughter from Kayla. Leah got up to get them drinks at one point; Kayla thanked her, but that was the only thing she said that afternoon.

Eventually Casey let her settle on the couch with her music player; he and Leah retreated to the kitchen doorway where they could talk without being overheard or leaving her sight. "Casey –" Leah started.

"Don't apologise again," he said with a sigh. "It was a mistake, it's done. Do you have a nightlight or should I go get one?"

"No, VJ's is in his closet, I'll go get it now. Listen, we sort of skipped lunch – and we've practically skipped tea – do you want some?"

"No, thanks, I should head before Brax comes to drag me out. Leah, thanks for agreeing to this."

"It's no problem, Casey, really. And you feel free to come by whenever, all right?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

He went back to the couch, sitting down with a sigh. "Kayla, I'm going to go now, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed absently.

"If you want me, ask Leah to call me." Catching her look, he added, "Or ask Nate, when he comes home. But Leah's nice. You'll like her."

"Yes," she said neutrally.

"I'll see you later."

"Goodbye."

* * *

><p>Nate called to apologise again late that evening, and to promise that he'd now gone over everything with Leah. Kayla still wasn't talking to her, he said, but she was more relaxed and she'd eaten what she was given and was currently sleeping with her new night light turned on. "I made her promise that if the light stops working she'll come and get me. I think she believes it wasn't a punishment."<p>

"Yeah, I think so," Casey agreed. "Thanks for calling, Nate."

"No problem. Are you coming by tomorrow? I want to see about getting her tested for school."

"You're not putting her in school," Casey protested.

"Not in school, no, but we can start working with her here if we know what she needs to work on. She reads, right?"

"Yeah, a bit. I'll come around in the morning." He caught Brax's look, sighing. "If that's all right, Nate."

"Sure, yeah. I'll be here until around twelve, so any time before that."

"Sounds good."

He hung up, and Brax immediately said "Aren't you working tomorrow?"

"Not until lunch time. Plenty of time before that. In fact, want to go for a surf before I go to Leah's?" Brax considered, and Casey sighed. "Brax! I'm fine!"

"Yeah, we'll see, mate."

They didn't surf, in the end; Brax was gone somewhere when Casey got up, and no one seemed to know exactly where. He didn't bother chasing him, just headed to Leah's. Leah was in the kitchen and waved him in cheerfully.

"I'm not too early, am I?"

"No, you're fine. Nate said you were coming."

"Yeah, he wanted to run the school placement tests?"

Leah nodded. "Yeah, figured it'd be easier with you here. Come on, we're having breakfast. Do you want some?"

"Oh, no, thanks, I'm right."

Nate was sitting at the table, talking quietly to Kayla, who was nodding solemnly. She glanced up when Casey came in, smiling at him. "I am doing a test."

"I heard," he agreed, sitting next to her.

"For school, but I am not going to the school."

"Not yet, anyway," Nate said, pushing their plates out of the way. "Leah works in the school, so she's going to help, all right?"

"All right," Kayla agreed. "Are you staying?" she added to Casey.

"Yeah, 'course. I can't help you, though."

"I can do it myself."

"I bet you can," he agreed.

Leah appeared with a folder in her hands, sitting down opposite Kayla. "Right, Kayla, we're going to start with easy ones, all right? So you might do these very quickly, but that's all right, we're just trying to see what you can do. All right?" She pulled out a sheet of paper, scribbled something on her legal pad, and passed the sheet to Kayla. "Read this out loud for us, please."

At sixteen, Kayla should have been in Year Ten or Eleven. She tested at Year Six for most things, which was better than Casey had been expecting; she couldn't have been higher than Year Five before her father had taken her out. Her maths was terrible, and she didn't seem to know any history or geography; but her reading was better than it should have been and she could write well for her level of schooling.

"This is good," Leah announced. "We can work with this and start bringing you up to speed. I'm going to talk to Bianca, if that's all right, and work out a plan for you."

"Yes," Kayla said, but she looked a little overwhelmed.

"Tell you what," Casey said, "why don't we go and sit outside for a few minutes? You've been working really hard this morning."

"Yes," she said, more happily.

"Do you need anything?" Leah asked as they stood.

"Maybe a drink in a few minutes."

"Sure."

Kayla examined the flowers growing up the porch, touching one curiously. "What are these?"

"Flowers. I don't know what kind, I'm afraid."

"Kind," she echoed.

"They come in different shapes, and colours, and smells. I don't know what these are."

"I like them."

"Yeah, they're pretty good," he agreed. "Come sit down for a minute." Kayla joined him, still looking at the flowers. "How are you feeling?"

"Not sick," she said automatically.

"I meant about the tests."

She turned to look at him more fully. "Did I not do well?"

"You did very well. Better than I thought you would. I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

Kayla considered for a moment. "I don't know what Leah meant."

"About?"

"Bianca and a plan."

Casey nodded. "Bianca is in charge of the school. Leah works there, as well, and she wants to talk to Bianca and find out how to start teaching you."

"I'm not going to school."

"Not yet, but you can study at home. Leah and Nate can help you with a lot of it, and us Braxtons'll know some. But there has to be a plan, so that we don't miss things or get them wrong."

Leah tapped on the doorframe, leaning around to look at them. "Drink?"

"Please," Casey agreed.

Leah stepped inside, reappearing a moment later with two glasses in her hands. "I'm sorry if I was rushing you," she told Kayla. "We can wait a bit until you feel more up to it if you want."

Kayla studied her glass. "Is it hard?"

"Is what hard?"

"School."

"Parts of it," Casey told her. "But we'll help you."

"Absolutely," Leah agreed.

"People in Summer Bay want to help me," Kayla murmured. Casey frowned, and she added, "Brax said it."

"He was right," Leah told her. "Bianca and the other teachers will help you out if you need it."

"Thank you."

"Will we do it?"

"Yes let's do it, thank you."

She smiled, rising to her feet. "Excellent. I'll be going in later today, I'll talk to Bianca and we'll get going. Finish your drink."

"What are they?" Kayla asked, pointing at the flowers.

Leah glanced at them. "The white one is star jasmine. The pink one is wisteria. Do you like them?"

"I like the colours. And they smell good."

"Yeah, they do. I'll show you around the garden later if you like. Or, I tell you what, John Palmer has a beautiful garden. Get Casey to show you sometime. I'm sure John wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure he wouldn't," Casey agreed. "We'll do that some day. Thanks, Leah."

"You can touch the flowers if you want, Kayla, as long as you're careful."

"Thank you."

Leah smiled, heading inside. Kayla wandered back to the flowers, touching them lightly.


End file.
